MINSK, 7 May (BelTA) – As of 1 April 2018, there were 8,412 veterans of the Great Patriotic War in Belarus, Belarus' Deputy Labor and Social Security Minister Alexander Rumak told the media, BelTA has learned.

“The march of time is relentless. As of 1 April 2018 there were 8,412 veterans of the Great Patriotic War in Belarus, including 4,006 servicemembers. 13,000 veterans passed away in 2014-2017. The median age is 95-96, the youngest are aged between 86-87. They were young partisans and underground fighters during the war,” Alexander Rumak said.

As of early April there were 2,430 people in Belarus honored with the USSR orders or medals for dedicated service and flawless military service during the war, 451 Leningrad siege survivors, 143 people who worked at the air defense facilities, at the construction of fortified positions, front-line parts of railroads and highways, members of the crews of the vessels interned in the ports of other states at the start of the Great Patriotic War, and 36 people who were part of the special forces who did mine clearance in Belarus after the liberation from the Nazi occupation in 1943-1945.

Some 17,400 residents of Belarus are referred to the category of citizens affected by the war. Over 16,000 of them are former prisoners of Nazi concentration camps, ghettos, prisons and other places of detention, 605 are family members of the fallen soldiers.

In Belarus there are 634 people disabled from childhood as a result of wounds and injuries sustained during the Great Patriotic War.

The local authorities conduct regular surveys to examine the living conditions of the veterans of the Great Patriotic War, the family members of those killed during the war years, elderly people, to identify their needs and provide the necessary support. “This work is done by review commissions, rural councils. Every request received from veterans is examined carefully,” Alexander Rumak said.

The local authorities also provide assistance to the veteran associations. Youth organizations, educational institutions and labor collectives play a big part in providing assistance to veterans.