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The governor took part in the 55th All-Russian Lermontov Festival in Tarkhany. The ceremonial part began with a prayer service in the church, a visit to the Arsenyev-Lermontov chapel, and the laying of flowers. Among the festival’s honored guests was Viktor Vekselberg, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Renova Group. This year, the festival is dedicated to the Year of the Unity of the Peoples of Russia.

“Tarkhany is a truly sacred place for everyone who loves and appreciates the poetry of Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov. He was not only a great poet but also an outstanding citizen of Russia and a brilliant officer who defended our Motherland,” Oleg Melnichenko emphasized to the festival’s participants and guests.

“The idea of creating this festival belonged to Georg Vasilyevich Myasnikov, second secretary of the Penza Oblastal Committee of the CPSU and a local historian, who deeply valued Mikhail Yuryevich’s poetry and saw it as his goal to draw as many people as possible to his work,” the governor added. “Georg Vasilyevich wanted to develop the Tarkhany museum-reserve and elevate it to the ranks of the country’s outstanding museums. He succeeded, and I am very glad that every year more and more admirers of Lermontov’s poetry from all over the country gather on Penza soil.” The main event of the festival was the presentation of the Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov Literary Award. This year’s laureates were Svetlana Razmyslovich from the Pskov Region, who has traveled to the Donbas on multiple occasions (including as part of a creative team of the Russian Ministry of Defense); Roman Sorokin, a native of the Novgorod Region and a participant in “literary landings” in Russia’s new territories; and Marina Tantsyreva from Penza, editor-in-chief of the children’s magazine Cherdobryak. Also recognized were Amir Sabirov, a participant in the special operation and a “poet in uniform” from Omsk, as well as Marianna Dudareva from Moscow, author of the monograph “Folklorism in the Prose of M. Yu. Lermontov.” Amir Sabirov was unable to attend the ceremonial presentation of the Lermontov Award because he is in the combat zone. He went to the front as a volunteer. The poet recorded a video address in which he thanked the organizers of the Lermontov Festival and sent greetings to its participants.

“I am in military service and have hardly seen peaceful life for several years now – and when a celebration comes to the trenches, it is very gratifying,” the soldier emphasized. “It is especially gratifying that the poetry award bears Lermontov’s name; since my youth, this poet has been a defining author for me. Perhaps this influenced the choice of my path. I understand him, figuratively speaking, as one special forces soldier understands another, although in Mikhail Yuryevich’s time such terms did not yet exist. I lean on his poetry in difficult moments. Peace to all, great patience and strength! I shake everyone’s hand and embrace you all.”

The head of the region emphasized that all of Lermontov’s work is imbued with love for the Motherland and a readiness to give one’s life for it.

“What our contemporaries share with Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov is a keen sense of justice and respect for the ordinary person – the soldier, the defender of the country,” Oleg Melnichenko concluded.