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VITEBSK, 1 April (BelTA) – A memorial plate to Hero of Russia Alexei Vorobyev will be unveiled in his homeland, the village of Borovukha (Polotsk District, Vitebsk Oblast) on the Unity Day of Belarusian and Russian Peoples on 2 April, BelTA learnt from chairman of the Borovukha village executive committee Sergei Splender. Back in the Soviet Union, the village of Borovukha was called the capital of the blue berets: the 350th and 357th parachute regiments of the famous 103rd airborne division were deployed there for over 50 years. Here the father of the future Hero of Russia served. The memorial plate is placed on the house where Alexei Vorobyev spent his childhood. Taking part in the solemn ceremony will be comrades-in-arms of the Vorobyevs from Pskov, Moscow, Minsk, senior officials of Novopolotsk and Pskov, the public. The right to unveil the memorial plate will be granted to the father - Colonel (Retired) Vladimir Vorobyev. According to Sergei Splender, although the village is no longer the capital of paratroopers, its residents remember and cherish its heroic past. The former comrades-in-arms now live in different parts of the former Soviet Union, but they try to come to Polotsk District every year. They traditionally meet on Victory Day, Independence Day of Belarus, and Airborne Forces Day. Deputy commander of an intelligence company of the 104th guards regiment of the 76th airborne division Senior Lieutenant Alexei Vorobyev was killed in the line of duty in Chechnya on 1 March 2000. He was among the 84 military killed during that fight; only six people survived. Thirteen officers, including Alexei Vorobyev, were awarded the Hero of Russia title posthumously.

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