Official website of the President of Russia

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Vladimir Putin visited the Pyotr Mandryk Central Military Clinical Hospital of the Russian Federation Defence Ministry, where servicemen of the Armed Forces are undergoing treatment and rehabilitation after being wounded while carrying out combat missions during the special military operation.

Accompanied by Defence Minister Andrei Belousov and Head of the hospital Pavel Krainyukov, the President visited the hospital’s surgery unit, where he met with servicemen from the 127^th Separate Reconnaissance Brigade.

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Conversation with servicemen

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: We will go to see [Ruslan Kolyvanov] shortly and have a chat with him. They will bring some tea for him as well. God willing, we hope he recovers soon.

The doctor has just said that all of you here have been wounded. I want to emphasise – and I have said this many times, deliberately and with full conviction – that everyone who is in the special military operation zone, on the frontline, in combat, they tact heroically. You know perfectly well that an attack can come any second and hit any place.

But assault units, special forces and army reconnaissance units – people like you – this requires exceptional endurance and strength of character. These are obvious things. And I am truly pleased to note that we have such people as you. Thank you very much.

You know that your efforts are not in vain. Overall, the situation in the zone of the special military operation is developing favourably for us. Your comrades-in-arms are advancing on all fronts and conducting active operations.

As you know, and it has been publicly reported, in two locations, Kupyansk and Krasnoarmeisk, the enemy has been surrounded and blocked from moving further.

I have discussed this matter with the commanders of the respective groups. Mr Belousov, they have no objections to allowing members of the press, foreign and Ukrainian journalists, to enter the entrapment zone and see for themselves what is happening there. They should see the condition of the encircled Ukrainian troops, as this would prompt Ukraine’s political leadership to make decisions about the fate of their citizens and personnel – similar to what was done at Azovstal. They will be given this opportunity.

Our only concern is that there are no provocations from Ukraine. We are willing to cease hostilities for an agreed period of time – whether it be several hours, two, three, or six hours – to allow groups of journalists into those cities where they can observe the situation, speak to the Ukrainian troops, and then leave. We are ready to bring them to designated entry points, where the Ukrainian personnel can receive them and escort them to the other side.

The most important thing is to prevent any provocations from Ukraine. There must be no drone attacks that could harm these journalists for the purpose of blaming the incident on us. We do not need this. On the contrary, we are ready to proceed as I have described. The question is whether the Ukrainian side is ready. This is the first issue I wanted to raise.

It is obvious that you are performing your duty diligently in this sector. But I believe that understanding the broader developments at the line of contact and at the frontline is also essential for you. This is the situation unfolding there.

What you and your comrades-in-arms – our soldiers and officers – are doing today is the most important task facing the country: ensuring its security and the long-term safety of our people. Equally important is that while addressing these urgent current challenges, we are not forgetting about improving and strengthening our strategic potential.

You have probably heard that a new, state-of-the-art, unlimited-range nuclear-powered missile has recently been tested. It has undeniable advantages, and we can be proud of the achievements of our scientists, specialists, engineers, and workers who made it possible.

The main advantage lies in the small nuclear propulsion unit. It is comparable in power to a nuclear submarine reactor, but it is a thousand – thousand! – times smaller. Yet the most important feature is that while a conventional nuclear reactor requires hours or even days and weeks to start, this reactor starts up in minutes or even seconds – a tremendous achievement.

We will be able to use it not only in defence but also in the national economy, including in solving the issue of energy supply in the Arctic and the lunar exploration programme. Even now, radiation-protected electronics developed for the Burevestnik missile are being used in space programmes. Thus this breakthrough strengthens both Russia’s defence capability and the overall scientific and industrial potential for the future.

Furthermore, you should also know that yesterday another test was successfully conducted: one more test of the Poseidon underwater unmanned vehicle, also equipped with a nuclear power unit. For the first time, we successfully launched it from a submarine by activating its booster engine, and then started the nuclear reactor, which propelled the apparatus for a certain duration.

This is another major success because in addition to all the advantages I have mentioned with respect to the Burevestnik, the reactor that powers Poseidon is also extremely small. While the nuclear unit that powers Burevestnik is a thousand times smaller than that of a submarine, this one is a hundred times smaller than a submarine’s nuclear reactor. But the power of the Poseidon is significantly higher than that of our most advanced Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile. There is no analogue to Sarmat in the world. It is not on duty yet, but it will be soon.

However, the Poseidon is much more powerful than the Sarmat, and it also surpasses all existing systems in speed and operational depth and currently has no equivalent and there will be none any time soon. The are also no interception methods.

I believe all of this is important to you as well. You are fighting on the frontlines, risking your lives. Of course, you are wondering why you are doing it, to what extent will the country be prepared to take on what you are doing, risking your life and health to defend the Motherland, to what extent will it be capable to continue to move forward, strengthen its defence, and become stronger overall. These are the elements that are also associated with this work.

Thank you once again. If anyone has something to say, please, do. Otherwise, we will ask the cameras to leave us so that we can have a more informal talk.

Ivan Leksin: Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief,

Group commander, warrant officer Leksin requests permission to speak, Sir.

I have a question about the continuity of tradition of serving Russia running in families. I am actually named after my grandfather, Ivan Leksin, and my father was a military man too – he completed his service in Mongolia. So, I am carrying on that family tradition.

Vladimir Putin: Did he serve in the Airborne Forces?

Ivan Leksin: Yes, sir. The first year of his service was in Alytus, Lithuania, and then he was admitted to the Ryazan Airborne School. So, you see, I am following in their footsteps.

In our free time, we always try to teach the personnel about the heroic deeds of our grandfathers who defended our Motherland during the Great Patriotic War, including how they fought on Ukrainian territory.

There’s one memorable story about a reconnaissance officer from the Tambov Region. He was part of a reconnaissance group that was among the first to cross to the right bank of the Dnieper. A man named Sergei Mitrokhin was in that group. Thanks to his initiative and skill – he cleared a path to the German trench – they managed to take up the position and hold it. The battle raged for three hours until the main infantry forces arrived. For his actions, he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union at just 20 years old.

The heroic deeds of our grandfathers were captured in multiple films and books. I would really like to see the same for our modern reconnaissance officers, special forces officers, and other services – specifically in the special military operation context. Because sooner or later, the younger generation will take our place.

Vladimir Putin: You are absolutely right. And thank you for bringing this up – it reminds me of a few more things I would like to say.

First off, you had not known the details of your grandfather’s service until recently, had you? Did that information come from the archives?

Ivan Leksin: Today, thanks to the Defence Minister…

Vladimir Putin: See, that’s my point. You did not know the exact details of how your grandfather fought, yet you are fighting in the very same spirit.

Ivan Leksin: I am doing my best.

Vladimir Putin: Exactly. And what does that tell us? It’s all in the genes, you see. You had not even known… I recently found out more about my own uncle who fought in that war. When I was in Primorye, the Governor got the documents for me from the local archive. I never knew he had served in Primorye. I read about how he and the others fought there. I even saw a letter my grandfather wrote to his son who was at the front. I had not known any of that before.

You see? It is inside us. It has always been there, and it is stay with us. But you are absolutely right that we must know our own history. This heroic history of our ancestors gives us strength – that is absolutely certain – and we need to speak about it more often.

You just mentioned films and television stories. I completely agree with you. I watched the footage of a fire exchange that you had under a bridge. If everything happened the way it was described – and I believe it did – you had to crawl almost 1,700 metres, and on top of that, you had to clear mines from the path ahead. Is that right?

Ivan Leksin: Yes, sir, that is correct, on a hill.

Vladimir Putin: Can you believe it!? Frankly, that sounds like a story for a blockbuster, a good film or a good story. We know that to be the case.

The icons you gave me, the ones that stopped the bullet and saved your life that is also something that can make a good story for a film or anything else for that matter. How many stories like this one have taken place? We are sitting here sharing a table, but as you are aware, our military are fighting out there, and there are many units like that, correct?

I hope they will hear us. All of us cannot gather at one table, but we know about their combat work, we know and we remember, and the country should know about it as well. I completely agree with you: we will definitely do so, and we will direct our people engaged in creative work to make these stories widely known.

But I will tell you this. You have probably also seen those same reporters, war correspondents who are out there under fire as well and are incurring casualties. These people will, without a doubt, do what you just said, and do so with sincerity, from the heart. That is how it is going to be.

Sergei Velkin: Junior Sergeant Velkin, deputy commander of a special forces group.

Mr President, our brigade is relatively young. It was formed in the summer of 2014. Since the beginning of the special military operation, our officers and enlisted men have shown courage and dedication in carrying out the assigned combat missions. And a result, you have seen with your own eyes the footage of a part of our mission being carried out.

During the Great Patriotic War and in the postwar years, many special reconnaissance units and detachments were awarded the Guards designation. Not all of us, but most of us have served in units bearing the honorary Guards designation.

We would be very happy and proud if you would consider awarding the honorary Guards designation to our 127^th Separate Reconnaissance Brigade.

Vladimir Putin: Agreed, that’s what we’ll do.

Sergei Velkin: Thank you.