On November 16 and 17, Ambassador Bill Burns traveled to Volgograd in southern Russia. He toured the Museum of the Defense of Stalingrad and a Panorama commemorating the heroic resistance of the southern front by Soviet forces in World War II and visited Mamaev Kurgan where he laid a wreath in honor of Stalingrad's valiant defenders at the Pantheon of the Immortal Flame. Ambassador Burns expressed his deep admiration and respect for the extraordinary sacrifices of the defenders of Stalingrad, who played such a crucial role in the victory over fascism.