On 6 May 2005 Minister of Information Technologies and Communications of the Russian Federation L.D. Reyman met wiremen - veterans of the Great Patriotic War in course of a videoconference held in the Popov Central Museum of Communications in St.-Petersburg.

The interactive broadcast initiated by the Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications and organized with support of Svyazinvest JSC in St.-Petersburg was provided by North-West Telecom JSC.

The video bridge technology made it possible for wiremen veterans from St.-Petersburg to get in touch with their comrades-in-arms from Yekaterinburg, Nizhniy Novgorod, Krasnodar, Novosibirsk and Moscow. Thanks to the rapid development of telecommunications during the past 60 years the veterans could see each other, talk to each other, sing war songs together, while being thousands kilometres apart.

In his address to the participants of the video bridge Leonid Reiman congratulated the veterans on the Great Victory day and the Day of Radio and mentioned the invaluable contribution of each of them into the Victory.

The work of wiremen during the war was more than an individual deed. The quick and timely delivery of reports, orders and commands and eventually the success of the battle and of every operation depended on the accuracy of their work. Thousands of employees of the enterprises that now form parts of North-West Telecom doughtily defended their motherland. Many of them gave their lives for the great Victory.

During the celebrations the guests watched a documentary about the struggle of wiremen during the Great Patriotic War and shared their memories about the war. The veterans particularly enjoyed the performance of a popular actor Vasily Lanovoy and children’s dance group.

At the end of the videoconference the Chief Executive officer of North-West Telecom JSC Vladimir Akulich expressed his warm wishes to the veterans and offered them flowers and gifts on behalf of more than 30 thousands of employees of the company. “Your unconditional love to our Motherland and the commitment, endurance and courage that you showed at the frontline and at the home front and your optimism until now serve as an example for all following generations of signallers, for all of us”, - Vladimir Akulich said.