Official website of the President of Russia

Transcripts   /

The University (an autonomous non-profit organisation of extracurricular vocational training) was founded in 2013. This is the first and currently the only private educational establishment in Russia to train personnel for the Special Forces. The university also intends to develop high-performance sports and implement programmes of military-patriotic and physical education.

The University trains specialists in a variety of tactical and special subjects (firearms, tactical and specialised training, airborne, mountain, diving, security, military medical, canine, engineering, automotive training, IT training, and military journalism).

The University located on a territory of over 400 hectares is a multifunctional complex comprising 95 buildings and facilities, including a mock-up urban battlefield area, a shooting complex, a ten-metre deep two-hectare water reservoir , and a 1,600-metre-long runway.

Since 2022, the University has trained more than 47,000 specialists who have taken part or are taking part in the special military operation, with 19,000 volunteers among them.

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Comrade officers,

I know that some of you have come to this centre for the first time and will be going to the combat theatre for the first time. Others have been there many times and hold state awards. In fact, these medals you have are equivalent to a [hero’s] star. The [Medal] For Bravery is awarded for personal courage.

There is something I would like to tell you. This place [the Special Forces University] has unique conditions, and the leader of the Chechen Republic definitely deserves credit for that. He is a brave man and a fighter himself, someone who knows what we live for. You and I, we all live for our Motherland – for the community we are from and at the same time, for our vast and great country.

We live to make it strong, and ensure that our children and our grandchildren feel safe and confident in their own land, and look forward with confidence, and always, at all times, feel a part of something – even though Russia is a complex, multi-faith and multi-ethnic nation, as Ramzan and I just discussed as we drove here. All Russian people, representatives of different religions and ethnicities, have always had this in common: our moral and ethical framework and love for our Fatherland, respect for our seniors, for the older generation, respect for our history and our faith in our future.

At various points in the past – true, we are not living through the best or the easiest period – but even in the most difficult times, there have always been people like you, who would spare nothing for the sake of their Motherland and the future of our people.

I am delighted to have this opportunity to meet with you. You are making a difficult decision. Putting your life and health at risk is completely different from training at a shooting range. However, you have an inherent need to protect the Fatherland and the courage to make this decision. If you did make it, you have already triumphed. You have crossed a certain line. I want to congratulate you on this. I would like to thank you for your decision and, with all my heart, wish you luck.

And as long as we have men like you, we are absolutely invincible.

I wish you the best of luck.