The message reads, in part:
“A talented writer and war veteran, you have created some wonderful works that have definitely enriched modern Russian literature. A special place in your work is given to the theme of historical memory and our people's heroic deeds during the Great Patriotic War. The novels you have created over the years of your fruitful and tireless work raise the important universal and ideological problems, and that is the reason why they are truly and sincerely loved by people from various generations.”
Yury Bondarev’s works have been translated into more than 70 languages with five of them adapted into films. He is Hero of Socialist Labour, winner of the Lenin’s Prize and two State Prizes of the USSR.