ULAN-BATOR, August 26 (Itar-Tass) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will on Wednesday end his two-day state visit to Mongolia. It is planned that he will attend festivities devoted to the 70th anniversary of the joint victory on the Khalkhin-Gol River and hand state awards to Mongolian veterans.

The Battle of Khalkhin Gol was the decisive engagement of the undeclared Soviet-Japanese Border War, or Japanese-Soviet War, fought between the Soviet Union, Mongolia and the Empire of Japan in 1939. The battle was named after the river Khalkhin Gol passing through the battlefield. In Japan, the battle was known as the Nomonhan Incident after a nearby village on the border between Mongolia and Manchuria.

Besides, the Russian president will attend the national holiday Naadam that the Mongolian authorities hold specially in his honour.

Medvedev said on Tuesday that the “Khalkhin-Gol victory is an example of combat brotherhood.” This battle, he noted, “considerably influenced the progress of combat actions in the Far East during the Second World War.” In 1939, the USSR and Mongolian troops managed to stop the Japanese invasion. On July 2, the Japanese troops that started counteroffensive were defeated and thrown back to the east bank of the river, after which the enemy troops were pushed out of Mongolian borders. As a result, Mongolia managed with the help of the Soviet Union to preserve its territorial integrity and independence, and the enemies no longer took the risk to invade these territories.

Medvedev will also lay a wreath at the Zhukov Monument that was opened in 1979 and last year it underwent cardinal reconstruction. The military cooperation that was actively developing between the two countries during the Soviet period, is also continuing now. Thus, the joint manoeuvres Darkhan-2 are underway. The RF president is expected to visit the range where the exercise is held and familiarise himself with the progress of repairs of military equipment of the Mongolian army.

The programme of Medvedev’s two-day state visit to Mongolia will be ended with his participation in the people’s holiday Naadam that by Mongolian traditions is regarded also a military parade.

Naadam is a traditional type of festival in Mongolia. The festival is also locally termed “eriin gurvan naadam” – “the three games of men.” The games are Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery and are held throughout the country during the midsummer holidays. Women have started participating in the archery and girls in the horse-racing games, but not in Mongolian wrestling.

The biggest festival is held in the Mongolian capital Ulan-Bator during the National Holiday from July 11 – 13, in the National Sports Stadium. Other cities and towns across Mongolia and those with significant Mongolian populations population in China, have their own, smaller scale Naadam celebrations. It begins with an elaborate introduction ceremony featuring dancers, athletes, horse riders, and musicians. After the ceremony, the competitions begin.

Naadam is the most widely watched festival among Mongols, and is believed to have existed for centuries in one fashion or another. Naadam has its origin in the activities, such as military parades and sporting competitions such as archery, horse riding and wrestling, that followed the celebration of various occasions. Now it formally commemorates the 1921 revolution when Mongolia declared itself a free country.

Another popular Naadam activity is the playing of games using shagai, sheep knuckles that serve as game pieces and tokens of both divination and friendship. In the larger Nadaam festivals, tournaments may take place in a separate venue.