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The issues on the agenda included preparations for celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, perpetuating the memory of those who died defending the Fatherland, conferring the honorary title of City of Labour Valour, reviewing the progress of state programmes to support combat veterans, and preserving the historical memory of the Great Patriotic War.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.

Today's meeting of the Russian Pobeda (Victory) Organising Committee marks the beginning of a very important, seminal year for our country. In May, we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, which holds immense significance for Russia's destiny and for the character and values of our people.

The year 2025 has been declared the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, reflecting our enduring memory of the events of the Great Patriotic War and our monumental triumph over Nazism, as well as symbolising the unbreakable continuity between generations.

Defending and serving the Fatherland has always been and remains a sacred cause for us. Our society is bonded by the feelings of love and responsibility for our country. Each Russian citizen contributes to the preservation of our country, ensuring its reliable and stable development in the near and more distant historical perspective through their work and achievements in science, culture, education, the economy and industry.

The veterans of the Great Patriotic War are undeniably an example for all of us. They will be the main participants in the upcoming celebrations. They and their concerns will receive the closest and most cordial attention.

I would like the governors, mayors and local government officials to personally meet with our veterans without delay, to ask them about their concerns and problems, and to ensure that they are resolved.

I also believe it necessary to support the Defence Ministry’s initiative on awarding the title of Honorary Citizen of the region, city or municipality to all our combat veterans. I know that many of them already hold this title, but I would like to reiterate that every veteran who fought on the frontline with arms in hand deserves to hold it.

On a special note, I would like to highlight a decision that has already been made. Today, I signed an executive order to pay out 80,000 rubles to frontline fighters, their widows, as well as those who endured concentration camps in their childhood. Homefront workers and people who lived in Leningrad during the siege, as well as adult prisoners of concentration camps and those who worked at air defence facilities, sea and air bases and built defensive structures will receive 55,000 rubles each.

Our duty is to do everything possible to ensure that those who saved our country are well-off and live with dignity.

This matters for the younger generation too. Children and young people must know that they had or have real heroes around them, among their family members, and must feel proud of them and know what they did on the home front and in combat. A shared understanding of the importance of this experience for our entire nation paves the way to a feeling of belonging to the Fatherland and its destiny and serves as a source of inspiration for defending it. This is what the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the victorious soldiers are doing today by taking part in the special military operation.

Today, we will hear progress reports on state programmes to support combat veterans. Of course, we will also discuss plans to mark the 80^th anniversary of the Great Victory.

I ask the heads of the regions, civil society organisations and government agencies on the ground to show that they truly care about the upcoming events. There is no place for formal approaches or box-ticking. Memory is about meaningful action. It starts with finding the most appropriate, tailored ways of congratulating veterans, considering their age and how they feel, and goes all the way to undertaking sincere, meaningful and interesting projects for the younger generation.

In addition, we need to carry out a thorough and detailed review of war memorials and their status, ensure that the monuments, war-era mass graves and burial sites are in impeccable condition and accessible, and that they benefit from improvements and repairs, while also honouring the memory of the victorious soldiers.

Content also matters as part of the upcoming celebrations. I am certain that historical truth will be the main fundamental topic across all the events, projects and programmes.

It is essential that archives and witness accounts, as well as research shape the way we view what happened during the Great Patriotic War so that the younger generation can develop a sovereign mindset, their civic and psychological identity.

A National Centre of Historical Memory was established a year ago to develop an advanced strategy for defending our historical security, or our historical sovereignty, which is the subject we have been discussing. I would like to receive a report today on the progress achieved to date and the plans for the upcoming periods, including with respect to the projects related to the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, which extends beyond the May festivities, of course.

The Great Victory inspired our nation to make colossal achievements that ensured the country’s leadership and breakthroughs in a broad range of industries and priorities, including space, nuclear projects, the development of the Arctic, Siberia and the Russian Far East. The foundation for many of these scientific and production triumphs was laid during the years of the war, originating from home front facilities that provided the front with all necessary resources faultlessly.

As you know, 63 cities that hosted those facilities already have the honorary titles of the City of Labour Valour. Today we will consider several more applications for this special status. To this day, there are defence industry facilities operating in these cities. They include Kurgan, Kovrov, Miass and Verkhnyaya Pyshma. The polar city of Salekhard did a great deal to help the front. Another example is Ishimbai in Bashkortostan, which accounted for 25 percent of oil produced during the war, five air squadrons and three tank columns equipped using local residents’ donations. Zelenodolsk in Tatarstan is notable for having built 139 ships and produced more than 4 million artillery shells. Residents of Leninsk-Kuznetsk in the Kemerovo Region donated over 20 million tonnes of coal and more than 1.5 million rubles to the front and the Defence Fund.

The theme of labour feat and the image of a hard-working person must become a significant focus during the events marking the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. Recognising the contributions of specific cities and towns, plants, factories and hard-working people of the home front is essential for fostering a clear worldview among young people that hard work is highly valued.

This addresses the challenges of our time, specifically, the development of the production base, the training of manual workers and engineers, and the pursuit of a technological breakthrough.

We should discuss all these issues. Let’s proceed to the main agenda. I pass the floor to Andrei Belousov. Mr Belousov, please.

Defence Minister Andrei Belousov: Thank you.

Mr President, colleagues,

The 80th anniversary of the Great Victory is a special date for our country, a symbol of the cohesion of our nation, its strong will and fortitude. It is not just a day for commemorating the heroes who fell defending the Fatherland, but also a reason to remind the world about the significance of those events.

To commemorate this date, the Defence Ministry is holding a large number of events as part of preparations for the celebrations. Work is underway in five main spheres.

First, military parades are the traditional focal point of the celebrations. They will be held in Moscow and in eight other hero cities, as well as in the 19 cities where the headquarters of military districts, fleets, combined arms armies and the Caspian Flotilla are situated. Participants in the special military operation will march in the parades.

Like in the other round year celebrations, the military parades will include historical elements, namely dismounted troops carrying the standards of the fronts, the combat banners of renowned formations and military units that distinguished themselves in the war, dressed in the uniforms and holding the rifles and other weapons used during the Great Patriotic War, as well as mechanised columns of historical military vehicles.

Military units from 19 friendly countries have been invited to take part in the parade on Red Square, and 10 of them have confirmed their participation, including seven republics of the former Soviet Union. Celebrations involving troops will be held in 370 cities and towns. Russian military units will take part in Victory Day celebrations in Sukhum, Tskhinval, Dushanbe and Bishkek.

The second sphere has to do with support for participants in the Great Patriotic War. There are about 7,000 combat veterans in Russia. It is extremely important to take special care of them, so that none of them is left unattended. On May 9, veterans will have honorary seats on the review stands. The combat veterans who will be unable to attend the celebrations for health reasons will receive personal celebrations at home or in their medical facilities.

Mr President, I would like to thank you for supporting the Defence Ministry’s initiative on awarding the title of Honorary Citizen of the region, city or municipality to all combat veterans of the Great Patriotic War.

We also encourage heads of the regions to consider placing personalised inscriptions at the places of residence of war veterans and to conduct extra medical examinations for all war participants by mobile medical teams and to provide them with necessary medications.

The third area of focus is about organising commemorative events dedicated to military glory days and the most important events of the final phase of the Great Patriotic War. From January to May, these events will be tied in to the anniversaries of lifting the Siege of Leningrad, defeating Nazi forces in the Battle of Stalingrad, the 80^th anniversary of the East Prussian Strategic Offensive, liberating European countries, and holding the Yalta Conference of Allied leaders. In June, as part of the nationwide Memorial Candle drive, the flame from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier will be delivered to hero cities, cities of military glory, and cities of labour valour.

Youth military and patriotic marches at key Great Patriotic War battlegrounds and the Alexandrov Song and Dance Ensemble concert tours will take place across the regions and throughout the year.

The fourth area is about countering historical falsifications. More than 20 international military history conferences and other scholarly events will be held in Russia and abroad. In April, in collaboration with the Defence Ministry of the Republic of Belarus, we will host the 3^rd International Anti-Fascist Congress.

We will continue publishing materials from the Defence Ministry’s Central Archives and declassified documents about the Red Army heroism. We will also publish facts about the crimes and atrocities committed by Nazis and their henchmen, Ukrainian and Baltic nationalists.

Mr President, following your instruction, the Defence Ministry has prepared over 250 original rare documents from its Central Archive for display at the historical and documentary exhibition titled, Without the Right to Oblivion, which is dedicated to the 80^th anniversary of Great Victory.

The fifth and last, and undoubtedly one of the most important areas is memorialising those who laid their lives defending the Fatherland. This year, over 3,000 search expeditions will set out to locate yet unknown military burial sites and unburied remains of the defenders of the Motherland.

To consolidate the efforts of all search groups, it is deemed important to develop a dedicated programme for searches and commemorative events in collaboration with the Russian Search Movement.

It is advised to engage school and university students in this endeavour to the greatest extent possible. The findings should be incorporated into the Talking of What Matters lessons, and a course on the Defenders of the Fatherland, participants of the Great Patriotic War, should be included in the curriculum at educational institutions. Based on the outcomes of the search efforts, this course should be enriched with new facts and the names of heroes.

In this context, I wish to commend the Novgorod searchers from the Nakhodka (Finding) unit led by Alexander Morzunov, whose expertise should be emulated. In April, Patriot Park is set to host the commencement of the nationwide campaign Memory Watch 2025, with the involvement of search associations of the Youth Army, the Russian movement of children and youth, as well as the volunteer corps of servicemen and youth.

Mr President, during the search operations and archival research, the destinies of servicemen who were killed in action and in captivity, previously listed as missing, are being ascertained.

We request your support for our initiative to recognise these servicemen as killed in the defence of the Fatherland based on the evidence from search operations. An appropriate order will be prepared by the Ministry of Defence shortly.

Naturally, we will endorse the initiative of the Youth Army movement to restore nearly 6,000 obelisks and memorials, and approximately 8,000 military graves as part of the Return a Hero's Name, an international youth military patriotic campaign.

In the current climate, the proper maintenance of Russian war graves abroad is of paramount importance. The Ministry of Defence has planned for the repair and restoration of several significant memorial complexes situated in other countries. To immortalise the memory of those heroically fallen in the special military operation, we will continue efforts to include them permanently in the lists of military units, assign their names to Youth Army units, schools, and streets, and install memorial signs on the Alley of Heroes.

Mr President, colleagues,

The personnel of the Ministry of Defence are acutely aware of the immense responsibility placed upon them. It is a profound honour for each of us to contribute to the organisation of the celebration of this momentous occasion. We will exert every effort to ensure that the celebrations are conducted with the utmost distinction.

Thank you for your attention.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much, Mr Belousov.

Mr Krasnikov, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences, please go ahead.

President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Gennady Krasnikov: Mr President, colleagues.

The City of Labour Valour honorary title is recognition of a major contribution of our predecessors to achieving Great Victory. Last year, the Russian Academy of Sciences received 31 applications from 19 regions across seven federal districts, seeking to have this title granted to Russian cities.

Our historians, members of the Academy’s historical and philological sciences divisions, conducted extensive expert evaluations and 27 applications received positive assessment Out of these 27, I would like to highlight seven contenders: Kurgan, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Miass, Ishimbay, Zelenodolsk, Leninsk-Kuznetsky, and Salekhard. During the Great Patriotic War, enterprises in these cities were awarded red banners by the State Defence Committee. I will provide more details about their achievements.

Kurgan is a city whose enterprises increased the production of ammunition and weapons 13-fold during the war. Their output included shells, mines, hand-held anti-tank grenades, and fuzes. Four enterprises in Kurgan became standard-bearers during the war. The Kurgan industry exemplifies the consolidation of efforts across the Soviet republics.

The heroism of the home front workers is quite notable. For example, on July 13, 1941, the Kurgan Machine-Building Plant housed equipment evacuated from the Gomel-based Gomselmash factory. By August 26, the newly merged Uralselmash plant had sent its first batch of ammunition to the front.

Verkhnyaya Pyshma, the Sverdlovsk Region, which is home to three enterprises that received the State Defence Committee’s Red Banner is another city that made significant contributions. This city produced over 50 percent of the country’s anode copper and hosted the nation’s only manufacturer of copper powder, a vital component for the aviation and engine industries.

At a June 23, 1941 rally, workers of the plant said the right words about the importance of their output for the front: “We know well that every kilogramme of copper, especially now, provides an extra blow to the enemy.”

Miass, the Chelyabinsk Region, became a centre for automobile production during the war. A portion of the Moscow Stalin Automobile Plant was relocated here, and a new Miass Automobile Plant was established under extremely challenging wartime conditions. On July 20, 1944, it sent its first batch of vehicles to the front. Over the course of the war, the Miass plant produced 6,800 ZIS-5 trucks. Two Miass enterprises were awarded the State Defence Committee’s Red Banner, and the Miass Automobile Plant won it three times.

According to the Academy, one more city certainly deserves the title of City of Labour Valour – Ishimbai in Bashkortostan. The city’s companies provided more than 25 percent of all oil produced in Russia during the war period, which means every third tank was running on fuel produced from Ishimbai oil at the time.

I will also mention three cities that already have one Red Banner of the State Defence Committee to their names each. Despite the modest size and number of residents, their products were critical for the battlefront. One of them is Zelenodolsk on the Volga, home to the Gorky Shipyard No. 340 located in Zelenodolsk, which manufactured warships. During the war years, the facility built 117 armoured boats, 13 anti-submarine ships and nine river ships, as well as other military equipment. The plant’s core products were armoured boats with a T-34 tank artillery mount and three turret machine guns on board. Some armoured boats were armed with rocket launchers. In the Battle of Stalingrad, those river tanks provided the only opportunity of uninterrupted supplies to the Red Army from August 1942 until the Volga froze. In addition, the city’s factories manufactured shells and bomb casings.

Leninsk-Kuznetsky in the Kemerovo Region focused on coal mining; the city’s eight coal mines produced more than 20 million tonnes of coal.

One of the largest local facilities was Moscow plant No 220, evacuated from the capital and re-established in Leninsk-Kuznetsky. It began manufacturing electric batteries commissioned by the Red Army administration, and on July 15, 1942, the first batch of electric batteries was rolled out.

Naturally, the fighters at the frontlines needed not only weapons, but also equipment, clothing, and food. It would be only fair to note the heroic effort put in by the people in Salekhard. During the war years, the city’s facilities produced over 22 million pieces of canned food, 6,000 tonnes of fish products, and more than 2.1 tonnes of food concentrates. The Salekhard Timber Packaging Plant rolled out over 100,000 fish barrel kits, and about 300,000 canned food box kits.

Most of the contenders for the honorary title that we are presenting today are not big cities. However, during the war years, they played a significant role in the nationwide military-industrial cooperation system and did a lot to restore the national economy later. Mr President, considering these seven cities’ contribution to the Great Victory, we propose considering the possibility of awarding them the honorary title of City of Labour Valour.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much, Mr Krasnikov.

(The next speaker, State Duma Deputy Speaker Vladimir Yakushev presented his report on the United Russia party’s involvement in implementing the Presidential initiative to award the honorary title of City of Labor Valour. He asked the head of state to support the United Russia’s proposal to award the honorary title to seven cities.)

Vladimir Putin: We have State Duma representatives here, who are taking part in our work. I don’t think I will make a mistake by saying that all the country’s political forces represented in the parliament will support the events we are outlining as part of celebrating the 80^th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. Of course, they must be supported.

Deputy Defence Minister of Russia Ms Tsivilyova is going to present her report on the progress of the state support programmes for combat veterans. Go ahead, please.

Deputy Defence Minister Anna Tsivilyova: Good afternoon, Mr President,

Colleagues,

First, I would like to express my gratitude to the President of Russia, on behalf the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, veterans of the special military operation and their families, for the decision to declare 2025 the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland.

In 2023, a new structure, the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, was created by the Presidential Executive Order, and in 2024, it entered a period of confident development and full-scale work to meet the interests of our heroes, veterans of the special military operation, and their families. Today, the foundation is already working as an effective and well-coordinated, caring team, with over 3,600 social coordinators, including 900 who participated in the special military operation, as well as their family members.

As of today, we have received 1.96 million requests for assistance; 91 percent have already been addressed and the rest are being worked on. The most frequent requests are about granting social support measures or cash payments, obtaining a certificate of the combat operations veteran, and legal assistance.

After solving the primary tasks, questions related to the future of our heroes began to appear more often. Now they want to continue their service to the Fatherland in a civilian field, and it is important for them to remain a pillar and protection for their families and feel confident about the future. Education and employment are very important in this respect.

I would like to note that 60 percent of the veterans, including those with combat-related disabilities, continue to work within the confines of the Defence Ministry. Those who choose to demobilise receive training in new specialties such as IT, the agricultural industry, creative industries, psychology, law, or medicine. We are launching programmes to train instructors and coaches for adaptive sports, prosthetics specialists, and rehabilitation therapists. Veterans are also being employed with industrial enterprises, and we are interacting with employers to facilitate the employment of individuals with disabilities.

Among demobilised veterans, around 6,000 applications have been submitted for education, 35 percent of which for higher education. Over 65,000 heroes have been employed.

(Anna Tsivileva provided a detailed account of medical help. More than 115,000 veterans of the special military operation have received medical help at leading regional and federal medical organisations. Over 45,000 veterans underwent medical checkups last year, and more than 55,000 heroes received psychotherapy. Among the social support measures for combat-related disabilities, the Deputy Minister mentioned the adjustment and re-equipment of apartments and homes, the provision of high-functionality prosthetics, as well as sports prosthetics and wheelchairs for adaptive sports. Vehicles with hand controls have also been added to the list of technical rehabilitation aids.)

Today, the focus is on search for missing heroes. The Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation and the Military and the Defence Ministry’s Social Centre have developed a single mechanism for coordinated actions to address this issue. This work is being carried out in close cooperation with the Investigative Committee and the Interior Ministry.

We are actively engaging with families. The Presidential Executive Order on providing monthly social payments to the children of the participants in the special military operation who are missing in action came as a significant measure of state support.

It is very important for our heroes’ families that the memory of their loved ones is preserved and passed on to future generations. We are actively working on patriotic education and immortalising the memory of heroes. Over 5,000 veterans of the special military operation are actively involved in this work. We also cooperate with all veteran organisations, actively relying on the support and experience of veterans of previous local wars and conflicts.

Last summer, we held the I Serve the Fatherland All-Russian campaign, during which about 300 veterans of the special military operation became lecturers of the Znaniye (Knowledge) Russian Society. We, alongside the Ministry of Culture, also provide veterans and their relatives with free tickets to museums, cinemas, theatres, and concerts. We believe that social activities, cultural entertainment and tourism are very important areas for social engagement of veterans.

Rehabilitation through sports has proven well. Together with the Paralympic Committee, the Russian Ministry of Sport, and with the support of the regions, the Foundation holds the Defenders of the Fatherland Cup competitions, which are all-Russian competitions in adaptive sports.

This March, the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area – Yugra will host the Defenders of the Fatherland Cup in winter sports for the first time. Its programme will include competitions in cross-country skiing, biathlon, ice sledge hockey, alpine skiing, and snowboarding. In total, about 2,500 veterans are currently participating in the Paralympic movement.

We believe that both special military operation veterans and their families must be actively involved in preparing the festive events to mark the 80^th anniversary of the Great Victory and taking part in them. In the Year of the Defender of the Fatherland, we propose holding a set of events that will cover all regions of Russia at once: Semeinaya Zarnitsa, or Family Lightning. It will be based on transferring traditional values, knowledge, culture, history of Russia, our bloodline from the old generation to the young one. Participants will not only demonstrate fitness, but also erudition, creativity, and readiness to help. Our heroes of the special military operation, our veterans, will become mentors and coaches for the teams. There is a suggestion to hold the competition annually.

Mr President, we would like to ask to support our proposals.

Thank you for your attention.

Vladimir Putin: These are good proposals and we will work on them. Of course, all of this deserves support.

Please, pass the floor to Yelena Malysheva, Head of the National Centre for Historical Memory, to elaborate on the Historical Sovereignty project. Please, proceed.

Head of the National Centre for Historical Memory Yelena Malysheva: Mr President,

Colleagues,

The Year of the Defender of the Fatherland indeed brings us all together, as each individual in their professional sphere endeavours to fortify Russia and, consequently, enhance its security. For the National Centre, safeguarding historical memory constitutes the primary focus of our activities, particularly in the face of a concerted assault by the collective West aiming to undermine our nation and diminish its significance in the global historical narrative. Defending this historical truth from the standpoint of historical sovereignty is essential for the independence of our state.

(Ms Malysheva, specifically, addressed the Centre’s involvement in the No Statute of Limitations project, which, from the perspective of historical sovereignty and grounded in facts and evidence, provides a legal and public assessment of Nazi crimes against civilians during the Great Patriotic War. Presently, the No Statute of Limitations project encompasses numerous educational programmes, scholarly research, memorial complexes and activities, along with the creation of literary works, theatrical productions, documentaries, and feature films).

The National Centre has initiated several legislative proposals. By the way, I wish to highlight that the victims of genocide, the civilians who perished at the hands of the Nazis, represent a major portion of the casualties during the Great Patriotic War. The National Centre is currently compiling a book of memory, maintaining a register of burial sites, and has produced a map of additional memorial locations. We envisage all of this as a digital archive, a digital museum of the genocide of the Soviet people. All information and data accumulated will be accessible to everyone, anywhere in the world.

(Ms Malysheva also discussed the initiatives of the National Centre, notably the establishment, in collaboration with Sirius University, of a specialised master’s programme on historical memory, which will possess an interdisciplinary framework. The Centre is also engaging with various organisations and institutions that generate and preserve historical content, including the Gosfilmofond (state film archive), where kilometres of unique newsreel, both domestic and trophy, were discovered. In her view, it is imperative to ensure the availability of this content in the public domain on a complimentary basis, so it can be utilised in school curricula and by the expert community. Yelena Malysheva stated that support from the Government of the Russian Federation and the relevant agencies – the Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media, and the Ministry of Culture – is crucial in this regard and requested the President to issue pertinent instructions. Another initiative of the Centre is the establishment of a sculpture park, Saved Europe, in the Kaliningrad region this April, as a response to Western countries that have dismantled memorial complexes and monuments dedicated to Soviet soldiers, thereby desecrating the memory of those who liberated these nations from Nazism).

As part of Defender of the Fatherland Year, the National Centre is putting forward another initiative, because historical sovereignty involves understanding our mission in the context of current events and capturing the key moments and facts that must be preserved. I am referring to the special military operation, of course.

The National Centre proposes creating a National Digital Archive of History and Participants of the Special Military Operation. I would like to point out that this initiative has come directly from the front lines. It is supported by our servicemen, their families, and loved ones, who understand that preserving living history now is essential for ensuring that this history is later written objectively and truthfully.

This is a major project, and, just like the Without Statute of Limitations initiative, it can only be implemented through collective efforts. We enjoy strong support. We are working closely with the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Defenders of the Fatherland Foundation, the Association of Veterans of the Special Military Operation, and numerous concerned organisations that have already begun preserving this living memory.

However, assistance from specialised agencies such as the Defence Ministry, the Ministry of Digital Development, and, of course, the Federal Archival Agency, is essential.. We can use joint efforts to ensure historical sovereignty in the future and to make sure no one distorts today’s history. We are well aware that such attempts are being made.

Mr President, in conclusion, as a professional historian, I would like to sincerely thank you for your special commitment to preserving traditional values and historical memory. Most importantly, I thank you for the steadfast stance that serves as a priority for us in understanding historical sovereignty.

Thank you.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you very much, Ms Malysheva. Thank you, your colleagues, and everyone at the Centre for Historical Memory for your work and the proposals you have presented today. We will certainly follow up on them.

Many agencies and institutions have proposed using the archives at their disposal. Indeed, everything we do in this area must be based on documents. This will not only make our position well-founded, but will also vividly highlight the role and the important role of the Red Army and the Soviet Union in defeating Nazism. It will reinforce the very historical memory that the Centre for Historical Memory, under your leadership, strives to uphold.

Thank you very much.

Colleagues, we have heard five speakers, but a much larger number of our colleagues are taking part in our work today. If you would like to add something, make a suggestion or clarification, by all means, go ahead.

Yes, please. The State Duma.

Vladimir Shamanov: State Duma deputy General Shamanov.

Vladimir Putin: Go ahead, please.

Vladimir Shamanov: As head of the Russian Heroes’ Association, I would like to say that in the near future, we will mark another anniversary – the 45^th anniversary of the Soviet troops’ deployment to Afghanistan. Many veterans, especially special forces veterans who took part in the so-called storming of Amin’s palace, are taking the initiative and, in particular, proposing to confer the title of Hero of Russia on Colonel of Foreign Intelligence, holder of the Order of Lenin Rustamkhoja Tursunkulov.

My second point is that the strong bonds connecting today’s special military operation participants are obviously reminiscent of what was observed during the Great Patriotic War. In particular, Lieutenant General Vladimir Dyatlov, a well-known artilleryman, inspector of the Military Artillery Academy in St Petersburg, has written an appeal in which he proposed considering a group of fighters who, as amputees, continue to serve in the Armed Forces today, for awarding the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. We could submit the documents concerning those fighters to Mr Kiriyenko for assessment and consideration at the state level.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Shamanov, please give us all the information you have. You can send it to the Executive Office. I will call you to discuss this issue separately.

Thank you.

Vladimir Shamanov: Thank you very much.

Vladimir Putin: Go ahead, colleagues. Anyone?

I would like to thank everyone for their work. And please, do me a favour, as I said in my opening remarks. I know we are talking about festivities, but nevertheless, in today’s situation, they hold great substance and importance for our domestic political standing – I mean educating the younger generation, primarily teaching them patriotism – and they are also essential for strengthening the unity in society. Each of us understands this very well.

Therefore, I ask you to treat all the planned events related to the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War with seriousness, not as a pro forma function. This work must be meaningful and aimed at achieving the specific results and objectives that we have set for ourselves and that the speakers have mentioned today.

Thank you very much, and all the best. We will definitely keep this work under review. All the best and thank you again.