The project participants have completed their trip across Russia and Belarus.
A formal closing ceremony for the 2026 edition of the project was held at the Minsk State Palace of Children and Youth.
The schoolchildren were welcomed by Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council Konstantin Kosachev who said that the Memory Train Project, which was initiated, organised, brought together, and inspired by the upper chambers of the parliaments of fraternal Russia and Belarus, travelled 7,500 kilometres through 13 cities of military glory in the two countries. “Two weeks on the road for 200 senior school students, descendants of the victors from all the republics of the former Soviet Union and three Allied countries of World War II.”
According to the Federation Council Deputy Speaker, the project made the schoolchildren responsible citizens, patriots and mature individuals who know their shared history and value genuine friendship.
The group had a busy programme in Minsk where they visited the Belarusian State Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War. Its modern building in Minsk opened in 2014 ahead of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus. Accumulated over decades, the museum’s collections now have more than 165,000 exhibits.
The young passengers of the Memory Train also learned about the history of the National Library of Belarus and went up the observation deck which offers a panoramic view of Minsk.
At the Emergencies Ministry’s Safety Education Centre, the schoolchildren were introduced to safety rules for emergency situations.
The Memory Train project was launched in 2022 on the initiative of the upper chamber speakers of the parliaments of Russia and Belarus, Valentina Matvienko and Natalya Kochanova, with the support of the heads of the two states. This year, 200 young passengers from former Soviet republics and Allied countries of World War II took part in it.