French and Russian Officials Hold Ceremony To Bury Dead from 1812 War

Officials from France and Russia, descendants of war generals and others, jointly held a religious ceremony to bury the remains of the soldiers of the two countries who died in the Battle of Vyazma in 1812. The remains of 120 soldiers were discovered near the battlefield after archaeological digs. The French military attache in Moscow was in attendance as were descendants of France’s Marshal Murat and Russia’s Marshal Kutuzov. Many of the attendees dressed in period uniforms for the occasion and a military band played martial music from that period.