Velikije Luki (Velikije Luki)
Вели́кие Лу́ки, City in Pskov Oblast, Russia (about 150 km SE of Estonia), where the Red Army wiped out a German force of some 7000 in the Battle of Velikiye Luki (1942-3). Also burial place of Matrossovi A.. Literally meaning ‘Great Meanders’ after the meandering Lovat River, but symbolized as longbows on the city’s coat of arms, Estonians ‘interpret’ it, inaccurately but humorously, as ‘Big Onions’ (onion is Лук). Soviet occupation renaming (1979-1995) of Virbi.







