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Vladimir Putin: Many Emergencies Ministry specialists are presently in Chechnya. They have rescued thousands of women, senior citizens and children. We know in what adverse conditions they are doing their civil and military duty, how often they literally work under terrorist fire and deliver humanitarian cargo along mined roads.
It is our patriotic duty to restore normal, peaceful life to Chechnya. Its people must be sure they will not be left to their fate. Every ordinary citizen of the Chechen Republic must know this from his own experience, must feel that the state is there for him. The people are tired of the lawlessness that has been harassing their land for many years. They are pinning their hopes on us.
Even today, houses are still in need of heating and electricity. Factories must start working, and schools and hospitals must reopen. The state will rebuild what is lying in ruins. It will help refugees, and guarantee order and stability in the region. That is our sacred duty. The Emergencies Ministry is facing big, essential tasks to revive the Chechen social and economic infrastructure. I think you will manage.
Many countries gratefully remember Russian rescuers, for disaster knows no borders, and human sorrow has no ethnicity. Our rescuers are always up to the mark, and we are proud of you.
I am glad your ministry does not rest on its laurels but is making progress. Your personnel regularly practice emergency procedures. Emergencies Ministry experts take part in R&D for pioneering technologies. They train young specialists out of concern for the future—which means they care about the future work of their ministry.
May 22, 2000, Moscow