200 years after Napoleon defeat, Russia and France bury their dead Published on Share
The remains of French and Russian soldiers who died during Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow in 1812 were Saturday laid to rest with military honours in a rare moment of unity between the two countries.
Officials gathered with descendants of 19th-century Russian and French military leaders at a windswept ceremony in the western Russian town of Vyazma to re-bury the remains of 126 people killed in one of the bloodiest battles of Napoleon’s Russian campaign.
The snow fell and a military band played in temperatures of minus 15 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Fahrenheit) as uniformed pall-bearers carried eight flag-draped caskets at a cemetery in Vyazma, a town more than 200 kilometres (120 miles) west of Moscow.
The remains of French and Russian soldiers who died during Napoleon's retreat from Moscow in 1812 were laid to rest Saturday in a rare moment of unity between the two countries.
The remains of French and Russian soldiers who died during Napoleon's catastrophic retreat from Moscow in 1812 were laid to rest this morning in a rare moment of unity between the two countries.
The remains of French and Russian soldiers who died during Napoleon's catastrophic retreat from Moscow in 1812 will be laid to rest Saturday in a rare moment of