Russian Border Guards Place Pennant On Elbrus

A pennant in commemoration of the 56-th VE-Day anniversary (Russia marks VE-Day every May 9) was placed atop Elbrus by a team of mountain climbers serving with the Russian border-control force. The 5.642-meter Elbrus, which is the highest mountain in Europe, has two peaks and is located amidst the Greater Caucasus range; as a matter of fact, Elbrus is a dormant volcano. A team headed by master of sports Maj. Sergei Orloff scaled Elbrus in about nine hours, subsequently placing the pennant atop the mountain. After that, the border guards returned safely to their anchor base that was located at 3.800 meters above the sea level. Col.-Gen. Yevgeny Bolkhovitin, who commands the Russian Federal Frontier Service's North Caucasus regional department, warmly congratulated the daring mountain climbers and the administration of the Elbrus high-altitude personnel-training center, which helps train mountain climbers for high-altitude border outposts.