Over 5,000 previously unknown names of Soviet soldiers who died and were buried in Hungary during World War II were identified by Russian experts in 2024. This was reported in an interview with a TASS correspondent by Sherali Mamasoliev, a representative of the Russian Defense Ministry for military memorial activities in the European country.
He also noted that over the past 12 months “3,131 names have been immortalized on memorial plaques at the burial sites of Soviet soldiers and officers who died in battles with the Nazis in 1944-1945“. At the same time, 16 war graves were rediscovered in Hungary last year, and restoration work was completed on 14.
After renovation, monuments to Soviet soldiers were solemnly opened in the regions of Nógrád, Fejér, Somogy and other regions of the country. A new memorial complex appeared at the central city cemetery in the city of Dunaujvaros, where the reburial of the remains of 99 Soviet soldiers and officers who liberated Europe from Nazi troops took place.
As the representative of the Ministry of Defense noted, all this was done with the active participation of the Russian Embassy in Budapest and in cooperation with the country's authorities. It is possible to establish the still unknown names of Soviet soldiers who died in Hungary and whose graves were discovered on the territory of the country as a result of diligent search and archival work.
This is done in accordance with the Russian-Hungarian intergovernmental agreement on the perpetuation of the memory of fallen servicemen and civilian victims of wars and on the status of burials of March 6, 1995. As the Russian Ambassador to Hungary Evgeny Stanislavov emphasized, the provisions of this document regarding Hungarian military graves in Russia are strictly observed.
Hungary is not a subject of the “war on monuments” unleashed in recent years in some Eastern European countries. The few cases of vandalism against Soviet military monuments in Hungary are rather the exception than the rule. The Russian embassy has always responded immediately to such incidents, demanding that local authorities take strict measures against the attackers. At the same time, Russian diplomats have repeatedly expressed gratitude to their Hungarian partners for their cooperation in resolving issues related to preserving the memory of those who died in the fight against fascism.
“Many events are planned for 2025, which is especially important in connection with the upcoming celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War“, Mamasoliev said.
In particular, the grand opening after renovation of the largest Soviet war memorial in Szeged in eastern Hungary will take place. In this city, in the Dugonjic cemetery, the remains of 1,084 Red Army soldiers and officers rest.
After the restoration, graves will be discovered in several more Hungarian cities, and the burial of the remains of 14 Soviet soldiers, recently discovered during construction work, will take place at the Kerepesi cemetery in the country's capital. >
A ceremony will be held in front of the monument to Soviet soldiers on Budapest's Freedom Square to mark the 80th anniversary of Hungary's liberation from fascism. Traditionally, on the eve of May 9, wreaths and flowers will also be laid at Soviet war monuments in other cities.
There are 829 Soviet war graves from World War II in Hungary, located in all 19 regions of the country and Budapest. More than 140 thousand soldiers and officers of the Red Army who died in 1944-1945 are buried there. In the last three years alone, more than 16 thousand previously unknown names of Soviet soldiers buried in Hungary have been identified. More than half of them have already been inscribed on memorial plaques. In 2021-2023, 52 military graves were renovated.
Units of the Red Army completely liberated Hungarian territory from Nazi troops on April 4, 1945. The battles for Budapest, which the Nazis turned into an impregnable fortress, were particularly fierce. During the operation to liberate the city in October 1944 - February 1945, more than 80 thousand Soviet soldiers were killed.