Donetsk, Jun 15 – DAN. More than 400 bushes of Donetsk roses have found new homes in Russian cities, the DPR capital administration said revealing details id an international project named Donets Roses – Russian Cities.
The roses have been planted in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kislovodsk, Stavropol, Rostov-na-Donu, Simpheropol, Groznyi and Vladikavkaz, since the project was launched in 2016.
"These cities received over 400 seedling," the press statement reads.
The project is run by the Donetsk city administration and a regional Donbassers Community social organization as a way to express gratitude to Russian cities that helped the DPR out during challenging times.
Roses are one of the Donbass symbols. They have been cultivated in the region since 1960s on the initiative of First Secretary of the Donetsk Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Vladimir Degtyaryev. By 1970, 180 varieties of rose could be found in Donetsk. For a long time Donetsk remained the cleanest industrial city of the world and was recognized accordingly by UNESCO.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Donetsk lost the status of the city of millions of roses, and regained it only in 2009, currently planting up to two millions of roses every year. *ot