The message reads, in part:
“Today in Kemerovo, the capital of Kuzbass, a monument composition is being unveiled, the prototype of which was the legendary sculpture of the Liberator Soldier in Berlin's Treptower Park. Both of these memorials are symbols of our boundless respect for the generation of victors who defended our Motherland and crushed Nazism.
In Russia, the memory of the Great Patriotic War and the heroism of our fathers and grandfathers is sacred. And of course, we honour the unprecedented resilience and fortitude of the fighters in the Siberian divisions. We remember that large strategic enterprises and factories were evacuated there, to the East; we remember the miners and steelworkers, all the home front workers, each of whom made their personal contribution to the Victory.
I sincerely thank the architects, engineers, builders, and residents of Kuzbass, all caring people who supported the initiative to create this memorial and participated in its implementation.”