Bishop Chrysanf of Chimkent and Turkestan Attends the Unveiling of a Military Memorial in Taraz

October 15, 2026. Taraz. With the blessing of Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan, Bishop Chrysanf of Chimkent and Turkestan attended the solemn ceremony marking the unveiling of a restored military memorial.

The memorial complex is located in the old city cemetery in the Karasu neighbourhood, where soldiers who died of their wounds in the evacuation hospitals of Dzhambul during the Great Patriotic War are buried.

Among those attending the event were: B. A. Orynbekov, Akim of Taraz; D. A. Turaev, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Almaty; Colonel G. M. Sulimuk, Defence Attaché of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Kazakhstan; E. M. Amanbayev, Chief Imam of the Aulie Ata City Mosque; clergy of the Diocese of Chimkent; and representatives of public associations and ethnocultural organizations of Taraz.

Those gathered observed a minute of silence in memory of the fallen.

Welcoming addresses were delivered by B. A. Orynbekov, Akim of Taraz; D. A. Turaev, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Almaty; and Colonel G. M. Sulimuk, Defence Attaché of the Russian Embassy in Kazakhstan.

Bishop Chrysanf read a message from Metropolitan Alexander of Astana and Kazakhstan on the occasion of the unveiling of the restored military memorial in Taraz.

This was followed by a ceremony of laying flowers at the complex’s twelve memorial plaques and the burial site of 72 soldiers who died in the hospitals of Dzhambul during the Great Patriotic War.

A group photograph was taken to commemorate the event.

Following the official ceremony, Bishop Chrysanf of Chimkent and Turkestan celebrated a memorial service (panikhida) at the burial site of the Soviet soldiers.

Praying at the memorial service were: Archpriest Dimitry Stashenko, Dean of the Zhambyl Church District and Rector of the Church of the Protection of the Mother of God in Taraz; Archpriest Georgy Vlasenko, Rector of the Dormition Cathedral in Taraz; and Deacon Daniil Yemelyanov, cleric of the Dormition Cathedral.

The clergy proclaimed “Memory Eternal” for “the commanders and soldiers who laid down their lives on the battlefield, who died of wounds and hunger, who were innocently tortured and killed in captivity and forced labour, and all those who laboured for the sake of Victory.”

At the conclusion of the service, Bishop Chrysanf delivered an address on the importance of honouring the memory of those who perished during the Great Patriotic War.