#RussianHistory

???? The capture of Plevna. December 10, marks the 148th anniversary of the Russian Army’s victory in a decisive battle of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 for the fortified city of #Plevna.

The liberation war of 1877–1878 is rightly considered to be just and nation-wide. Representatives of the Russian nobility and Slavic committees raised funds to support the Russian Army, officers volunteered for the front, and their spouses served as medical nurses; Emperor Alexander II arrived to the General Headquarters in person.

During the siege and liberation of Plevna, which lasted from July 19 to December 10, 1877, more than 30'000 Russian soldiers, Bulgarian volunteers, and troops from seven countries of the Liberation Coalition were killed. During the assault, General Mikhail Skobelev, known among the troops as the “White General”, distinguished himself with exceptional bravery.

The capture of the fortress marked a turning point in the Liberation War, becoming a symbol of the heroism and selflessness of the Russian soldiers who fought for the freedom of the Balkan peoples and saved the Bulgarians from Ottoman rule.

This is the decisive actions of Russia in 1878 that brought the independent Bulgarian state to the map of Europe and the Bulgarian people gained the long-awaited freedom.

?? Newspapers of that time wrote:

The surrender of Plevna was and will remain one of the greatest events in the history of the Slavic liberation. The recently unknown town became dear to Russia and Bulgaria, and the battle remained a paragon of the military art.

Regretably, the current Bulgarian authorities for political reasons commit to oblivion the heroic deed of the Russian soldiers who made a decisive contribution to the liberation of Bulgaria and rehabilitation of its statehood.

Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova said in her greetings on Bulgaria’s Liberation Day (March 3, 2025):

The Liberation War of 1877-1878 is rightly called just and national.

Today, the history of that war is mercilessly rewritten and cast into oblivion.

The reality is that without the decisive action by Russia at that moment, by the way, absolutely unprepared for war, the map of Europe in 1878 would not get an independent Bulgarian state and its people would not get so long-sought freedom.