MOSCOW, June 23. /TASS/. Russian soldiers today are fighting for the country’s future, just as they did during the Great Patriotic War, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with top military graduates in the Kremlin.
"A new stage of your service begins in the year of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory," the supreme commander-in-chief addressed them. "Today, we are fighting for our future in the same way."
"Participants in the special military operation, all our warriors, are the direct heirs of the heroes of the Great Patriotic War and all generations of defenders of thousand-year-old Russia," the president emphasized.
"Always remember that you are continuing the great work of your great-grandfathers, grandfathers, and fathers," Putin said in his address. "Their example, their loyalty to the Motherland, truth, and justice serve as an enduring moral compass. Guided by it, I am confident you will write new glorious pages in the history of our armed forces, law enforcement, and special services."
The president noted that the ceremony’s participants had gathered in the St. George Hall of the Grand Kremlin Palace. "This majestic pantheon of Russian military glory reminds us of legendary battles and heroes of 1812, serving as an inspiring example of strength and unyielding spirit for many generations of the Motherland’s defenders," Putin described.