47 quotes found
"It is possible that the Germans will attack, and it is necessary that the fleet be in readiness."
"No actions are to be taken against the Germans without our consent."
"We have fine troops, they are inured."
"We'll spin them out like a bobbin thread."
"We intend to check up on the fitness of our small units...If each such particle attains real efficiency and brings genuine military skill to our large units, our troops, should they be called upon to fight, will carry out their operations without sustaining heavy losses."
"It is necessary to keep in mind the possibility of simultaneously conducting two, if not three, offensive operations of various fronts on a theater of war with the intention of strategically shaking the enemy's entire combat capability as extensively as possible."
"We are harassing them and will go on harassing them until they are totally exhausted. This is not merely tactics of a definite kind—it is a strategy with a broad perspective, directed at definitive and total victory. The Russian defence always had preparation for the counter-offensive as its aim. The Russian war plan here follows the commandmant of Clausewitz, "Swift and powerful transition to the attack—the lightning sword of retribution — that is the most brilliant part of the defense."
"The Russians have learned much in this hard war in which the Finns fought with heroism."
"Peoples of all the warring countries are trying to put an end to the war, to establish peace. And we believe that they will get peace. And the sooner they get peace the better."
"The Red Army must keep its powder dry and be in constant mobilization and preparedness."
"The engagements in which Zhukov won his reputation were so massive that, inevitably, many outstanding Soviet military men were involved- either under Zhukov's command or in coordinated and associated movements. There was then, and there continued for years to be, a raging competition for military glory in these engagements. Deep lines of political cleavage and quarrels also underlay the military disputes. Not only military glory was involved; political intrigue, intra-Party quarrels, high-level Kremlin politics were at issue. The principal military rivals of Zhukov were his fellow marshals, Ivan S. Konev, Rodion Malinovsky, V. I. Chuikov, A. I. Yeremenko, Semyon Timonshenko, and to a lesser extent men like K. K. Rokossovsky, V. D. Sokolovsky, and the staff chiefs, A. M. Vasilevsky, Boris Shaposhnikov and, later on, S. M. Shtemenko. Rivals of a different category were Stalin's cronies, men like Voroshilov and Budenny, and police generals such as L. Z. Mekhlis and G. I. Kulik."
"Whoever can lift a rifle, should have one."
"It's a bad business. There is no firm front. We have separate strongpoints in which our units are holding off the attacks of superior enemy forces. Communications with them are weak."
"I personally believe that war is highly unlikely."
"It was necessary to close the front against Germany and that it (victory) depended on us whether it was to be closed or not."
"If we enjoy the benefits of peace, it is only because we have an excellent armed force and a fine socialist economy. Let us exert all efforts so that our further development may be strong and mighty, so that our numerous enemies may think well and long before they decide to attack our fatherland, and so that if they attack, they will quickly regret it."
"The Soviet Union, true to the Leninist principles of respect for the rights and national independence of all peoples great or small, has always been and is guided in its relations with other countries by the principles of mutual respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, non-aggression, non-intervention in each other's internal affairs, equality and mutual benefits, peaceful coexistence and economic cooperation."
"Voroshilov was a striking figure, with a great deal of influence among the workers, so that the degree of influence of the committee on the workers and its success as regards recruitment depended primarily on him."
"Voroshilov was a hard-riding, hard-drinking military crony of civil-war days."
"When my neighbor, who spoke German tolerably well, introduced himself as a former Soviet general, I was somewhat surprised, even under these circumstances in which virtually nothing came as a surprise. ... He told me all kinds of stories, of which the best (one he claimed to have witnessed firsthand) was about Trotsky, who was irked by Voroshilov's arrogant behavior toward him. Trotsky took advantage of a council of war over which he was presiding in Petrograd and, raising his voice, addressed Voroshilov thus: "Commander of the Tsaritsyn front! Comrade Voroshilov!," then, as if giving orders, "ATTEN-TION!" At this, according to the story, Voroshilov, frozen on the spot, stood to attention, and this marked the end of his insolence. Se non è vero... ["Even if it's not true, it's a good story."]"
"We shall respond to every Chechen shot with thousands of our own."
"These 18-year-old youths Russian conscripts in Grozny] died for Russia, and they died with a smile."
"Everybody keeps saying - reform, reform. The T-72 has proved itself wonderfully in Chechnya. So we will be making reform on the basis of T-72."
"They say that we are engaged in the militarization of the country, so that everyone would walk in formation there. This, of course, is far from the case."
"What is on Britain’s] coat of arms, a lion, isn’t it? There is an old saying: every lion is a cat, but not every cat is a lion. Everyone should deal with their affairs. We do not think that there is an animal in their zoo that can tell a bear what to do."
"After everything Germany has done to our country, I think, they should not talk on the issue for another two hundred years. Ask your grandparents about their experience of talking to Russia from the position of strength. They will probably be able to tell you."
"The greatest focus should be on fighting international terrorism, which in short time became the largest threat to global security. The situation is compounded by the numerous local conflicts in the world and the failure of the West to overcome differences and to ensure the creation of a United front against this evil."
"The joint dialogue between the foreign policy and defenсe departments of Russia and Japan makes a serious contribution to creating an atmosphere of mutual trust and security in the Pacific Rim."
"We have achieved a high level of interaction between our armed forces on land, in the air and at sea. This increase is an important trend towards further activity."
"After everything that happened in Syria, we were those who established peace in Syria, from those who had the main influence on the situation in this country, defeated terrorism, starting an operation when Damascus controlled that 18 per cent of Syrian territory, and today in fact more than 90 per cent, then, naturally, they [the West] began to say that "Russia is behaving somehow wrong in Syria.""
"We were lucky in that, we still managed to stop [the West] in time. The process of returning to common sense… began in 1999. Starting from that moment, by putting a lot of effort, we have achieved that the world today has ceased to be unipolar."
"The meaning of what is happening, from my point of view, is as follows: patterns and algorithms for overthrowing any legal authority in any country inconvenient for West, have long been created. Of course, all this is done under the banner of promoting democracy. Well, in which country where they 'came with democracy' did this democracy take root: in Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya? Or in the former Yugoslavia, which they forcibly divided into 6 countries with their 'democratic' bombing in 1999. And you can simply forget about sovereignty and independence after any American intervention."
"Our strategic and long-range bombers have started to conduct flights to areas where they used to fly in the past. These flights are carried out according to schedule… How is it possible to bully your neighbors using strategic bombers?"
"I would not speak about Ukraine as a threat. I think that Ukraine and the Ukrainian people is a brotherly nation. They are not just our neighbors, we are a single people."
"The main goal for us is to protect the Russian Federation from the military threat posed by Western countries that are trying to use the Ukrainian people in the fight against our country."
"During the special operation, we strictly adhere to the norms of humanitarian law. The strikes are carried out with high-precision weapons against the objects of the military infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – control points, airfields, warehouses, fortified areas, objects of the military-industrial complex. At the same time, everything is done to avoid casualties among peaceful citizens, of course, it slows down the pace of the offensive, but we do it deliberately."
"Ukraine lost half of the army: 61,207 dead, 49,368 wounded."
"Losses of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - 5937 people."
"A total of 300,000 reservists will be called up during partial mobilization."
"Today we are at war not only with Ukraine and the Ukrainian army, but with the collective West."
"Victory, like the New Year, is inevitable."
"We firmly believe that elimination of the ISIS in Syria is possible only by the joint efforts of all countries."
"We do not exclude the possibility of closer Russian-American coordination in fight against the ISIS and creation of additional communication channels for rapid resolution of crisis situations."
"I would like to emphasize that Russia's actions for strengthening the defence are the balanced response to the expansion of the North Atlantic Alliance, the development of military infrastructure in the bordering countries, and the deployment of additional military contingents. NATO is a military-political coalition but not a group of philatelists."
"The activity of the NATO’s "police" aviation mission on patrolling the Baltic states’ airspace has actually become a part of the so-called limited access zone, covering the Kaliningrad region and the eastern part of the Baltic Sea. We consider such activities of the NATO as a violation of the power balance in the region, endangering the Russian Federation security."
"I place my trust in the impenetrable spaces, impassable mud, and the mercy of Saint Nicholas Mirlikisky, Protector of Holy Russia."