MINSK, Belarus — The French ambassador in Belarus has attended a burial ceremony for 110 Napoleonic soldiers who died in a major battle against the Russian army.
Tens of thousands of French troops died in November 1812
when the Russians attacked French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte’s army as
it was crossing the Berezina River on a punishing retreat from Moscow.
The
remains were excavated by a Belarusian Defense Ministry unit that
searches for soldiers’ remains. On Friday, they were buried at a
cemetery in the village of Studenka, 100 kilometers (60 miles) east of
the capital of Minsk in a ceremony attended by French Ambassador Michel
Raineri.
In previous years, Belarusian authorities have buried hundreds of remains of Napoleonic soldiers found in the same area.
