WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:14.416
Citizens of Russia, veterans, comrade soldiers and sailors, sergeants,

2
00:00:14.416 --> 00:00:22.456
midshipmen and corporals, comrade officers, generals and admirals,

3
00:00:22.456 --> 00:00:26.597
I congratulate you on Victory Day.

4
00:00:26.597 --> 00:00:33.143
Happy holiday, a holiday whose significance was earned by the people 

5
00:00:33.143 --> 00:00:38.997
themselves with their unparalleled feat of liberating our Fatherland 

6
00:00:38.997 --> 00:00:43.947
and their heroic and decisive contribution to the defeat of Nazism.

7
00:00:43.947 --> 00:00:49.946
The triumphant victory over that terrible totalitarian force will 

8
00:00:49.946 --> 00:00:53.744
forever remain in the history of humankind as a supreme triumph of life 

9
00:00:53.744 --> 00:00:59.160
and reason over death and barbarity.

10
00:00:59.160 --> 00:01:03.496
It is our duty to remember that the victory was achieved at the cost 

11
00:01:03.496 --> 00:01:06.769
on irreparable sacrifices, that the war claimed millions of lives.

12
00:01:06.769 --> 00:01:12.249
This monstrous tragedy was made possible primarily due to connivance 

13
00:01:12.249 --> 00:01:15.892
to the criminal ideology of racial superiority and due to the lack 

14
00:01:15.892 --> 00:01:20.609
of unity among the world’s leading nations.

15
00:01:20.609 --> 00:01:26.135
This allowed the Nazis to arrogate the right to decide the destiny 

16
00:01:26.135 --> 00:01:31.902
of other peoples, to unleash the cruellest, bloodiest war,

17
00:01:31.902 --> 00:01:36.669
to enslave nearly all European nations and make them serve 

18
00:01:36.669 --> 00:01:39.577
their murderous goals.

19
00:01:39.577 --> 00:01:45.202
The Soviet Union faced the most powerful assaults by the Nazis.

20
00:01:45.202 --> 00:01:49.666
But there was not, there is not and there will never be 

21
00:01:49.666 --> 00:01:53.136
a power that could defeat our people.

22
00:01:53.136 --> 00:01:57.571
They fought to the bitter end defending the homeland,

23
00:01:57.571 --> 00:02:02.479
and achieved the seemingly impossible by turning around the bloody 

24
00:02:02.479 --> 00:02:07.221
wheel of World War II, and drove the enemy back to its home whence it 

25
00:02:07.221 --> 00:02:12.058
dared to invade our land, crushed Nazism and put an end 

26
00:02:12.058 --> 00:02:14.556
to its atrocities.

27
00:02:14.556 --> 00:02:18.779
We will never forget that it was our fathers,

28
00:02:18.779 --> 00:02:24.244
grandfathers and great-grandfathers who won back Europe’s 

29
00:02:24.244 --> 00:02:27.073
freedom and the long-awaited peace.

30
00:02:27.073 --> 00:02:31.042
The Great Victory was won by marshals and privates,

31
00:02:31.042 --> 00:02:34.432
volunteers and home front workers,

32
00:02:34.432 --> 00:02:39.094
partisans and the fighters of the underground. Old people and children.

33
00:02:39.094 --> 00:02:41.760
People of all ethnicities and trades.

34
00:02:41.760 --> 00:02:47.457
They all passed through the unthinkable ordeals of World War II with 

35
00:02:47.457 --> 00:02:51.092
courage and unrivalled patience.

36
00:02:51.092 --> 00:02:55.804
Without sleep or rest, they worked at the plants and in hospitals,

37
00:02:55.804 --> 00:03:00.912
they burnt in tanks, froze in trenches, drowned at river crossings,

38
00:03:00.912 --> 00:03:04.273
shielded their comrades in arms.

39
00:03:04.273 --> 00:03:08.706
They rushed into attacks realising that the battle could be 

40
00:03:08.706 --> 00:03:15.025
their last one. They died without learning of the Victory yet they did 

41
00:03:15.025 --> 00:03:17.860
all they could to bring it closer.

42
00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:24.307
Today, we bow our heads to cherish the memory of those who did not come 

43
00:03:24.307 --> 00:03:30.148
back from the war, in memory of the sons, daughters, fathers, mothers,

44
00:03:30.148 --> 00:03:40.147
grandfathers and great-grandfathers, husbands, wives, sisters,

45
00:03:40.147 --> 00:03:47.243
fellow soldiers, family members and friends.

46
00:03:47.243 --> 00:03:52.338
We mourn the veterans who are already gone.

47
00:03:52.338 --> 00:03:56.943
I ask for a minute of silence.

48
00:03:56.943 --> 00:04:00.131
(A minute of silence)

49
00:04:59.011 --> 00:05:01.702
Dear friends,

50
00:05:01.702 --> 00:05:10.191
We celebrate Victory Day in each family across our huge country.

51
00:05:10.191 --> 00:05:14.436
No family was spared by the war.

52
00:05:14.436 --> 00:05:19.609
And we begin by honouring our veterans.

53
00:05:19.609 --> 00:05:26.904
We do it without hiding our tears and without shunning 

54
00:05:26.904 --> 00:05:31.770
high-sounding words. They come from our hearts filled with 

55
00:05:31.770 --> 00:05:34.725
respect and gratitude.

56
00:05:34.725 --> 00:05:42.563
We feel a kinship and a piercing closeness to the generation of heroes 

57
00:05:42.563 --> 00:05:44.547
and victors, and when addressing them,

58
00:05:44.547 --> 00:05:47.823
I will say: You will never feel ashamed of us.

59
00:05:47.823 --> 00:05:57.153
A Russian soldier is ready today as ever for any sacrifice for his 

60
00:05:57.153 --> 00:06:02.990
Motherland, for his people, showing courage and heroism.

61
00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:10.020
Such warriors, soldiers and officers are here now,

62
00:06:10.020 --> 00:06:15.135
standing in the parade formations on Moscow’s Red Square.

63
00:06:15.135 --> 00:06:18.212
The country is proud of you!

64
00:06:18.212 --> 00:06:22.844
We will always cherish Russia as you, the Soldiers of Victory, did,

65
00:06:22.844 --> 00:06:28.113
and we will strengthen the traditions of patriotism 

66
00:06:28.113 --> 00:06:30.951
and committed service to the Fatherland.

67
00:06:30.951 --> 00:06:33.529
The lessons of the past war call on us to be vigilant.

68
00:06:33.529 --> 00:06:37.064
And the Russian Armed Forces are ready to counter any 

69
00:06:37.064 --> 00:06:38.786
potential aggression.

70
00:06:38.786 --> 00:06:41.674
Life itself demands from us that we must increase our defence 

71
00:06:41.674 --> 00:06:46.070
potential. However, the consolidation of the world community is needed 

72
00:06:46.070 --> 00:06:48.925
for an effective fight against terrorism, extremism,

73
00:06:48.925 --> 00:06:51.646
neo-Nazism and other threats.

74
00:06:51.646 --> 00:06:54.097
We are open to such cooperation.

75
00:06:54.097 --> 00:06:59.205
Russia will always side with the forces of peace,

76
00:06:59.205 --> 00:07:02.919
with those who opt for equal partnership,

77
00:07:02.919 --> 00:07:06.050
who reject wars as contrary to the very essence of life 

78
00:07:06.050 --> 00:07:09.431
and the nature of man.

79
00:07:09.431 --> 00:07:12.347
Dear friends,

80
00:07:12.347 --> 00:07:16.681
The further the events of the Great Patriotic War fade into history,

81
00:07:16.681 --> 00:07:19.955
the greater is our responsibility to future generations.

82
00:07:19.955 --> 00:07:24.213
We must give them stability and peace on the planet.

83
00:07:24.213 --> 00:07:29.975
We must pass on to them the grave heroic truth and memory of the Great 

84
00:07:29.975 --> 00:07:34.617
Patriotic War, the spirit and meaning of Great Victory.

85
00:07:34.617 --> 00:07:41.146
We must do this so that our descendants should love Russia as much,

86
00:07:41.146 --> 00:07:44.740
and the people’s memory should forever cherish the generation that 

87
00:07:44.740 --> 00:07:48.510
selflessly fought for its Motherland and protected its 

88
00:07:48.510 --> 00:07:51.036
freedom and independence with honour.

89
00:07:51.036 --> 00:07:55.333
Glory to the victorious people!

90
00:07:55.333 --> 00:08:00.367
Happy holiday! Happy Victory Day!

91
00:08:00.367 --> 00:09:26.720
Hurray!