Russia is marking a holiday in honor of soldiers who "performed their duties to the Fatherland outside of the country."
The holiday, which was instituted in 2010, is marked on February 15, the date that Soviet forces completed their withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989.
State Duma Deputy and head of the Russian Afghan Veterans Union Frants Klintsevich laid a wreath at a Moscow memorial and said that "more than 15,000 soldiers and officers died for the ideals of internationalism on the soil of Afghanistan."
"The courage and heroism of Afghan veterans...does not have an expiration date," he added.
The events in Moscow will be capped off with a concert in the State Kremlin Palace.
