Speech by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to the Group of MFA Veterans and Young Diplomats Participating in the Patriotic Event in the Smolensk Region

Dear friends,

Together with the Russian MFA Veterans Board, with the support of the Moscow Council of Veterans, we continue the patriotic event on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Moscow. This was a milestone in the history of the Great Patriotic War and World War II. The battle was unprecedented in its cruelty and in the heroism shown by our citizens. It laid the foundation for the victory, stopping the Nazi war machine.

Today we begin this event here, on Smolensk Square. It is important that we always remember those who on July 4, 1941, a day after an appeal of the State Defense Committee, enlisted in the People's Volunteer Corps. Among them were 163 employees of the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs: diplomats, administrative and technical staff, and all graduates of the Higher Diplomatic School. Every fourth laid down their life in the Smolensk region.

The event starting today – a travel to places of military glory, including staff of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia – is a major initiative which we supported. The fact that it will be attended by both the veterans and members of the Ministry's Council of Young Diplomats suggests a link between generations, the continuity of our memory and the remembrance of those who fought.

Dear friends,

You will visit Vyazma and Bogoroditskoye-Pole, where 70 years ago, on October 11, 1941, there was a terrible battle. Then the militiamen and soldiers managed to stop the offensive on Moscow and not to let the enemy break through the defenses until reinforcements came. We ask you in Vyazma, Yelnya, Ozerishche and Ushakov to bow low to the veterans of military labor, local leaders and the community for cherishing the memory of the fallen and for keeping the monuments in good condition. This is the guarantee of our future life and an assurance that people born in Russia today will not be ignoble and will always remember to whom they owe their lives and well-being.

Good luck and we look forward to your impressions.