Alexander Churin told about his heroes and congratulated Kirov residents on Victory Day.

      "For us, it's not just a date from the calendar. Every family has its own story. Grandfathers, grandmothers, great–grandmothers - some with weapons in their hands, some at the machine, some in the field - they stood up when it seemed impossible. It is thanks to them that we can work today, build houses, raise children and believe in the future," wrote Alexander Churin, former Prime Minister of the Kirov region government.

      He said that his grandfather, Mikhail Ivanovich Churin, a foreman in the 36th Guards Upper Dnieper Division, started the war as part of the 9th Airborne Corps, and ended up in the Vienna Woods in Austria. "Two of his brothers did not return from the front, my grandmother's brother went missing near Leningrad in December 1941, and my great-grandfather died in January 1942 near Moscow. And for our whole family, this is a living story, a story that the family is proud of. An unquenchable memory, like an eternal flame. Pride in their feat, which will run through the generations like a red thread. We remember the price of this Victory. Very young boys from our villages and towns went to the front, often without a military uniform, in a simple overcoat, not knowing if they would return home. Mothers saw off their sons and waited for the news as their last hope. But here, on Kirov land, they did not sleep at night in the workshops, sharpened shells, raised bread, giving everything for the sake of one dream: so that life would not end. This great work and pain have been passed down to us as part of our own blood. Their feat is not the pages of a textbook, it is ourselves, our memory and our conscience," Alexander Anatolyevich wrote on his TV channel.

      Alexander Churin noted that on this day he wants to say thank you to the veterans, home front workers, children of war — to all who went through that terrible time and kept the light in themselves. "And a low bow to those who are honourably fulfilling their duty today. We must remember this not only on holidays, but also every day in how we treat each other, how we work, and how we raise our children. On behalf of the Selmash group of companies and on my own behalf, I wish everyone good health, warmth in their homes and a simple human world, so that their loved ones are around and so that life goes on," Churin said.