The guard is not tired

Military traditions are returning to St. Petersburg

“Napra-a-avo! Compliance with the state flag of the Russian Federation and the flag of St. Petersburg!” Last Saturday, for the first time in 82 years, these words were heard within the walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress. There, at the Naryshkin Bastion, a guard changing ceremony took place, which from now on will become a tradition.

This military ritual will be performed weekly on Saturdays after the noon signal cannon is fired from May to October. It was performed (and will continue to be performed) by soldiers of the honor guard company, military personnel of the 165th separate rifle company and the orchestra of the headquarters of the Leningrad Military District. The spectacle was so impressive that the military themselves did not expect the violent reaction that the audience gave them. And the audience didn’t think that changing the guards could be exciting.

Of course, the main reference was to the flags that the soldiers carried across the hill of the Naryshkin bastion. The standard bearers stamped their steps and maintained their posture, and behind them fluttered the tricolor and a banner with the coat of arms of St. Petersburg. I wanted to stand up and salute. But civilians are deprived of this opportunity. But they could gawk at everything that was happening there.

Many of us have seen on TV how masterfully the country's honor guards handle carbines - twisting, throwing, throwing them. But in reality this impression is intensified several times because sound is added. The knocking of heels and the tapping of butts on the pavement become opponents to the orchestral drum, beating out the rhythm of the marches. Musical parts alternately followed one after another. Drum part, heels part. Lot of heels, lot of butts. Then again the drum part. Honestly, my breath was heaving, and one thought was beating in my head: “Just don’t make a mistake, guys, just don’t make a mistake!” But there were no mistakes. The soldiers of the honor guard company of the Leningrad Military District turned out to be truly masterful in their skills. And when the last chord was heard - the carabinieri stood tall, hitting the pavement with their heels and butts for the last time, a real storm broke out. The audience shouted "bravo!" and clapped their hands, trying to return to the fighters the pleasure they received, if not in quality, then at least in the power of sound.

After the speech, the deputy director of the Museum of the History of St. Petersburg, otherwise the Peter and Paul Fortress, Sergei Eremeev, admitted to Vremya Novostey that he was happy. And he said that the museum had wanted to revive this tradition for a long time. The problem was that the Naryshkin bastion was lined with cobblestones, on which it was even impossible to march (although this was done by the guards of the imperial army). The ideal, according to Sergei Eremeev, would be to lay it all out with granite slabs. But KGIOP only allowed to replace the convex stones with ground ones.

The deputy military commandant of the city, Andrei Shanin, said that at one time in St. Petersburg, guard postings took place in four places: on Palace Square, near the barracks of the Izmailovsky Regiment, in the Engineering Castle and the Peter and Paul Fortress: “It’s a pity that as many as 82 years passed before the revival of guard postings.” "And the fact that the ritual has returned, at least to the Peter and Paul Fortress, again makes our city the capital. It shows that we remain faithful to the good traditions of the imperial army."

By the way, I must say that this day became the beginning of another tradition. The fact is that the midday shot is commanded by a reserve lieutenant colonel. And since he is a civil servant, he wore uniform and without shoulder straps. But this Saturday, the generals who were present at the first changing of the guard - representatives of the headquarters of the Leningrad Military District, having secured the approval of the museum management, obliged the artilleryman to rightfully wear the shoulder straps he deserved.

Dmitry KIRILLOV, St. Petersburg