KOSTROMA, May 6 (RIA Novosti) – World War II veterans in the Russian city of Kologriv have shown a laudable disregard for celebrations in their honor, asking the local administration to scrap a fireworks display to mark Victory Day this week so as not to scare migrating waterfowl.
Since 2005, Kologriv, a city of 3,400 in Russia’s central Kostroma Region, has celebrated Goose Day on May 11, two days after Russia marks the Allied victory in World War II.
The city has been dubbed “the goose capital of Russia” by media due to the hundreds of thousands of graylag geese that stop over in Kologriv’s forests in early May during migration.
“The geese feel safe in Kologriv. It’s the only place where they don’t post sentinels around the flock’s perimeter when feeding,” Mikhail Prostov, an official with the regional department of culture, told RIA Novosti.
He did not say whether the request would be granted or how many veterans there are in Kologriv. Victory Day, a public holiday, remains one of the most revered and spectacularly celebrated holidays in Russia 68 years after the defeat of Nazi Germany by the Red Army and its Western allies.