Address of Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov on the 74th anniversary of Victory in the Russian Great Patriotic War

Dear citizens of Tatarstan!

Dear war veterans and homefront workers!

From the bottom of my heart I congratulate you on the national holiday, the 74th anniversary of the Great Victory over the fascist invaders!

Many decades have passed since that unforgettable day when the long-awaited news of the end of World War II came to our burned country. But the events of the tragic and heroic years of the war will never be erased from our memory and will become an inseparable link of the spiritual and patriotic continuity of generations.

The war went through our country as a devastating tornado, killing thousands of cities, tens of thousands of villages and rural areas and taking over 26 million human lives. This most terrible war in the history of mankind showed mercy to no one, neither children, nor women, nor old people, leaving a deep lasting scar on the heart of every person and all of our multi-ethnic people.

The holy war with the “brown plague” (fascism) mobilized all our great power to a deadly battle with the hated enemy. Everywhere - on the battlefields, in the hungry ring of the Leningrad blockade, in the deep rear - at the round-the-clock working machines, on the collective farm fields and in the design bureaus, the Soviet people selflessly fought for the freedom of the Motherland, bringing the long-awaited Victory Day closer.

Over 700,000 people went to the front only from Tatarstan and almost half of them did not come back. The names of Musa Jalil, Mikhail Devyatayev, Maguba Syrtlanova, Peter Gavrilov, Gani Safiullin, Nikolai Stolyarov, Gazi Zagitov and many others, whose heroic destinies have become a vivid example of devotion and dedication to duty will never fade. The Tatar poet Musa Jalil wrote in the Nazi captivity: “When dying, the hero will not die - courage will remain for centuries. Glorify your name by the struggle, do not let it become silent”!

Today, we bow our heads low to the loving memory of the fallen and pay tribute to the heroes of today, front-line soldiers and home front workers. Thank you very much, dear veterans, for your courage, hard work, wisdom, inexhaustible life optimism and active participation in the life of your native republic! Long life to you!

May the terrible shadow of war never fall to our land and the eyes of our wives and mothers not be filled with tears of sorrow and despair! May the victory banner bequeathed by the heroes always fly over our beloved Motherland!

Peace to you, happiness, goodness and well-being! Happy Great Victory Day!

Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov