Chairman of the Mogilev Regional Executive Committee in Belarus Boris Batura became Chevalier of the “Order of Honour” of Moldova for special merits in patriotic education of the young generation. The decoration, awarded to the Belarusian high official via a decree of the Moldovan President, was handed by Ambassador of Moldova in Minsk Ivan Filimon on February 28. According to a press release from the Foreign Ministry, Boris Batura was honoured with the high decoration for the “significant contribution in erecting the Serpeni Memorial Complex, special merits in preserving and promoting historical-cultural patrimony and in the military-political education of the young generation”. The “Serpeni Stronghold” Memorial Complex was inaugurated on August 23, 2004. The sum of 6.5 mln lei was allocated from the state budget for its reconstruction works. The Iasi-Chisinau operation, which ended on August 24, 1944, was described by the Moldavian Soviet historiography as one of the most important military campaigns during the Second World War. As historians say, the troops, whose personnel exceeded the number of Moldova’s population at that time, were deployed in the operation that started on August 20, 1944, and which had the purpose to open access to the oil deposits in Ploiesti.