MOSCOW, September 30. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed all the soldiers and officers of Russia and Donbass, who died in the line of duty in the special military operation, as intrepid heroes of great Russia and observed a minute’s silence in their memory.
"It is Alexander Zakharchenko, the true leader of the people in Donetsk. They are combat commanders Arsen Pavlov and Vladimir Zhoga, Olga Kochura, and Alexey Mozgovoy, and Prosecutor of the Lugansk People’s Republic Sergey Gorencko, along with paratrooper Nurmagomed Gadzhimugamedov, and all our soldiers and officers who died a valiant death in the special military operation. They are heroes of great Russia," Putin said.
The president’s words were drowned in applause from the audience.
"I invite you to observe a minute’s silence in their memory," the president said.
Putin assured that Russia would always remember the heroes of the Russian Spring.
"We will always remember the heroes of the Russian Spring, those who did not succumb to the neo-Nazi coup d’etat in Ukraine in 2014, those who died for the right to speak their native language, to preserve their culture, traditions and faith, and for the right to live. They are the warriors of Donbass, the martyrs of the Khatyn-like [massacre] in Odessa, the victims of inhumane terrorist attacks launched by the Kiev regime. They are volunteers and militias. They are civilians, children, women, the elderly, Russians, Ukrainians and people of various ethnic groups," the president said.