Dien Bien (VNA) – A ceremony was held at the Dien Bien Phu Victory Museum, the northern province of Dien Bien, on June 6 to receive a jar of sacred soil from the Piskaryovskoye memorial cemetery in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The Piskaryovskoye memorial cemetery commemorates the sacrifices of soldiers and local civilians during the Nazi siege of the then Leningrad city in World War II.
The jar had previously been handed over to a Dien Bien delegation by Saint Petersburg authorities during a working visit to Russia in May 2025.
Secretary of the Dien Bien provincial Party Committee Tran Quoc Cuong highlighted the symbolic significance of the gesture, calling it an expression of the love for peace and a testament to the enduring friendship between Vietnam and Russia.
He asked the museum to use the display to help visitors—especially younger generations—better understand the sacrifices made by the Soviet Union's Red Army soldiers in the global fight against fascism.
At the ceremony, Major General Luu Trong Lu, Chairman of the Dien Bien provincial War Veterans’ Association, presented the soil jar to Vu Thi Tuyet Nga, Director of the Dien Bien Phu Victory Museum, for display in a place of honour within the museum.
The event served as a tribute to those who fought for independence and freedom of the two heroic cities – Russia’s Saint Petersburg and Vietnam’s Dien Bien Phu city. It also aimed to help deepen cooperation between the two localities while raising awareness of history among Vietnamese and international visitors./.
