Penza, 11 December 2014. PenzaNews. The official opening ceremony of a sculpture group that honors the memory of Penza soldiers who died in North Caucasus was held on Thursday, December 11.

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The monument designed by an artist Alexander Bem was built as part of the second tier of the memorial complex dedicated to those who died defending their Motherland after the year of 1945.

It is comprised of a four-meter high bronze sculpture of an antiterror group soldier, and six obelisks with the names of 124 deceased soldiers, all located on a 10 meter wide circular granite elevation.

Outside of the circle is a bronze-cast depiction of state medals for taking part in the North Caucasus battles.

According to the author, the sculpture depicts a collective image of a soldier of any military or spec-ops division.

Sergei Pulikovsky, deputy chairman of the Penza region, welcomed the participants of the public rally by the newly-opened monument and dwelled on the symbolism of the date chosen for it.

“Today is the 20th anniversary of the Chechen War. But we commemorate all who died on duty in all wars and local conflicts after the Second World War,” he stressed.

During the ceremony, the deputy of the Penza city Duma and representative of the regional fund “Veteran” Andrei Sakmaev, the leader of the Federal State Reserve agency in the Central Federal District Victor Vasilyev and the chairman of the supervisory council of “Kuznetsky Most” bank Leonid Seleznev were awarded the medal “For assisting the Penza region.”

According to Dmitry Vasiliev, the newly-opened monument is Penza is a strong message to those who try to dismiss the importance of border guard duty and constription.

“It is especially vital in the times when the military atmosphere on the Russian borders intensified due to the events in Ukraine,” he stressed.

In his turn, deputy Andrei Sakmaev thanked those who made their contribution to the project.