Matfey Shaheen
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
Stalingrad was the site of the second bloodiest battle in human history (after the Seige of Leningrad), now renamed Volgograd the city will host yet another battle between the nations of the world – the FIFA 2018 World Cup. Hopefully, it will be less bloody…but this is (European) football we are talking about…so…yeah.
Volgograd will be one of 11 cities hosting the FIFA world cup this year.
Sputnik International has reported on how the city is preparing to host the games.
As Volgograd prepares to become one of the host cities for 2018 FIFA World Cup, the mayor’s office has reported on the construction of pedestrian areas and parking lots on a number of city roads surrounding the Volgograd Arena.
The traffic pattern for the duration of the World Cup and warm-up events has been mapped out with the help of local and metropolitan experts. They studied each of the city’s vehicular pathways in detail, and calculated the capacities of the parking lots along with hourly traffic capacity of roads.
The system will go through a “dress rehearsal” during the warm-up events (April 21 and May 2) as well as during the Russian Cup final. Those matches will be used to work through all the organizational issues of the World Cup. It’s not just a matter of the vehicular and traffic infrastructure, but of the complex operational functionality of the stadium, the placement of fans at the venue in accordance with security and safety requirements, customer services, and the training of volunteers as well.
Special free-of-charge parking lots capable of accommodating over 3,000 cars and over 80 busses will be established around Volgograd for the duration of 2018 World Cup.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup will take place in 11 host cities in Russia from June 14 to July 15.
The battle of Stalingrad began in July of 1942, and ended 75 years ago to the day this article was published, February 2nd, 1943.
It was considered one of the greatest military events in history, costing over two million lives, and when the Red Army finally annihilated the Nazi invaders, it was considered a turning point in the war towards victory over fascism, and an enduring symbol of what the Soviet people were willing to sacrifice to achieve that victory.
A particularly legendary site in the city is the House of Sargent Pavlov. Hero of the Soviet Union Yakov Pavlov defended the building with his platoon and civilians for over a month, completely surrounded by the German army including their tanks, until they were relieved by a Soviet counterattack.
The reconstruction of the house was a microsome of the cities reconstruction. With the sacred words:
“In the stones of this building is fused the Podvig (great achievements) of war and labor. Dear Stalingrad, we will restore you!”
One can only hope that foreign visitors will not get too distracted by sports, as to forget to pay honor to a shrine to the destruction of Nazism.
The entire city of Volgograd is infused with the spirit of victory against impossible odds, the spirit of Russia herself.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of this site. This site does not give financial, investment or medical advice.
