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The President’s telegram reads, in part:

“Four centuries is a very long historical period spanning the lives and destinies of many generations. As honest toilers and courageous soldiers, the Kalmyk people, together with the other peoples of Russia, have traversed the great trials, victories and achievements that have made our homeland one of the world’s leading nations.

Being part of a multiethnic and multi-faith country has helped to develop Kalmykia’s unique culture, the only national culture in Europe based on the values and traditions of Buddhism.

Kalmykia today is an equal constituent entity of the Russian Federation and a place where people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds live and work together for the sake of their republic and the whole of Russian society.”

The Republic of Kalmykia (capital Elista) is located in the extreme southeast of European Russia and is part of the Southern Federal District.