Celebrations To Mark 85th Anniversary Of Murmansk Canceled Due To Kursk Lifting

Celebrations to mark the 85th anniversary of Murmansk that were scheduled for Thursday were canceled in connection with the lifting operation of submarine Kursk. The traditional anniversary meeting, outdoor festivities and fireworks that were to have been held on Thursday, were canceled. The birthday of Murmansk will nevertheless be marked on October 5 by the unveiling of a memorial complex to seamen who died in peace times. The memorial has been erected on the slope of one of the city's highest hills and is a 26-meter tall hexahedral beacon. Inside it are memorial plaques and five Memory Books where the names of fishermen, transport seamen, and sailors, as well as marine aviation pilots who died, will be recorded. Murmansk was founded at the decree of Russia's last emperor Nicholas II on October 4, 1916 as Romanov-on-Murman.