Other events in Baltic States

Events to mark the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Red Army were set to take place in Ivangorod, a town on the Russian side of the Estonian-Russian border, on Thursday, reports LETA/BNS/Interfax.

Regional authorities have announced that the celebration will get its start with a procession and laying of wreaths to the memorial plaque marking the symbolic place of the birth of the Red Army.

A mock battle of Red Army units will then be staged and a display of military equipment and weapons took place.

In addition, a theatrical performance of military history clubs and a military orchestra were shown. The celebrations ended with fireworks.

Feb. 23, 1918, when massive registration of volunteers for the Red Army of Workers and Peasants began, is considered to be the birth date of the Red Army. The registration followed the publication of the Feb. 21 decree of the Council of People's Commissars titled "Socialist Homeland is in Danger!" and a call for "revolutionary mobilization" issued by Nikolai Krylenko, the Bolsheviks' supreme commander-in-chief.