Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel began the programme of his official visit to Russia today in St. Petersburg, during which he will take part in events marking the 80th anniversary of the victory over fascism (9 May 1945).

The Presidency reports that the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba (CPC) visited the Piskaryovskoy Cemetery to pay tribute to the victims of the bombing and famine caused by the siege of Leningrad, and to the soldiers who died defending the city.

«Today, when there are frequent attempts to rewrite history and minimise the heroism of the USSR and the Red Army and their role in the victory, we want to show here that the Cuban people do know the true history,» said the head of state as he signed the visitors’ book.

According to the Presidency, the President also remembered in his words the young Cubans who fought in the Great Patriotic War: Vivó and Enrique Vilar.

In front of the monument to the Motherland, Díaz-Canel laid a wreath on behalf of the people and government of the largest of the Antilles.

The Cuban president arrived this Sunday in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad), where he was received by Alexander Dmitrievich Beglov, Governor of the city.

In that city Díaz-Canel will hold meetings with local authorities and visit places of interest, before continuing on to Moscow, the capital, where he will attend the ceremony and parade marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the then Soviet Union over Nazi Germany.

The high-level Cuban delegation includes Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, Emilio Lozada García, a member of the PCC’s Central Committee and head of its International Relations Department, and the Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment, Oscar Pérez-Oliva Fraga.

The official visit also coincides with the 65th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Cuba and Russia, which will be celebrated on 8 May.