Military Leaders From Russia

"To my regret, I have to say that my most pessimistic predictions that we will be dragged into a bloody, long, draining and highly dangerous mess for the Russian Federation have come true."

"Putin and his circle have recently embarked on a path that I believe will inevitably lead to a collapse of the system. We don’t know how yet, we don’t know when yet, but we’re sure it will collapse, and sooner rather than later."

"Ukrainian military men said to me why are you sitting like cowards, go out into the field, don’t hide behind civilians. Well sorry! Go out into the field to be killed? I’m not Don Quixote, after all!"

"Let's imagine for a second, that in the next few weeks the enemy will be after all defeated through continuous frontal and flank attacks, and completely pushed out of [Donbas] borders. And? What will this achieve? Will this end the war? No, not at all."

"We must ask ourselves, does the superiority of the Russian Federation’s armed forces in aviation and heavy weapons guarantee victory over an enemy, for whom our offensive plans are obvious, which is prepared for defense and has high morale? My answer is NO — there is no guarantee."

"For them, I’m an uncomfortable figure. They don’t know what to do with me: am I a hero or a terrorist? They can’t arrest me and put me in jail because that would be considered an admission to the West. To honor me Neither can they, so I’m caught between the chairs."

"The war in Ukraine will continue until the complete defeat of Russia. We have already lost, the rest is just a matter of time."

"I have been in the army since I was 17, but I never learned to swear. I think that swearing is good on a collective farm when the bulls do not obey. But with people you can't."

"I cry only for joy. I can see something beautiful and cry. And I'm not ashamed of it. After all, crying from joy is much better than from weakness."

"Russian and foreign historians and politicians said this for me. In their unanimous opinion, the main event of the twentieth century is the Second World War. In it, in the Great Patriotic War, we won. This is the main thing. Although the Americans wrote very different results, for them, the collapse of the Soviet Union was the main event of the past century. There is no more powerful state. The world has become unipolar and it is beneficial for them."

"Using the traditional demagoguery, which has been tried and tested over the years, the putschists blame all our current difficulties on the democrats and promise economic recovery and a better life, security and prosperity for the citizens of the USSR. What a hypocritical lie! Surely Pavlov is responsible for rocketing inflation and unprecedented price rises this year? Surely Yazov as leader of the most corrupt highest placed generals, is responsible for the poverty and lawlessness of our servicemen? Surely Pugo bears personal responsibility for the blood shed in the Baltic republics? Surely Starodubtsev, leader of the organization of Soviet land-owners is to blame, owing to the stance he assumed, for the abortive collection of last year’s bumper crops? And these are the people who promise to “restore order in the country!”"

"Soviet Marshal Dmitry Yazov was an outstanding commander and a remarkable representative of the iconic generation of victors, a volunteer and a battle-front veteran. He was a man of exceptional courage and determination. He went through the ordeals of the Great Patriotic War with dignity, and after the Victory, he devoted his life to developing the Armed Forces and strengthening Russia’s defence and national security. His loyalty to the Oath and duty as well as his high professionalism and personal qualities earned him undeniable authority and respect."

"After the war, Dmitry Timofeyevich dedicated his entire strength, experience, and knowledge to the development of the Armed Forces and the effort to bolster combat preparedness of the forces and defense capacity of our country. A highly competent and open and principled person who put officer's honor above all else and was highly respected."

"For all of us, he was and will remain a legendary personality, who fought throughout the Great Patriotic War and earned a reputation as a courageous and resolute soldier, as a wise and responsible commander. It was for good reason that he was appointed as the defense minister at a difficult time for the country and fulfilled his duties with dignity, at the same time staying true to his ideals and homeland."

"Russians are used to flaunting their fearlessness, but I'll be honest: no one wants to die. Nevertheless, we rose and shouted: "For the Motherland, for Stalin!" and went on the attack."

"My real friend was my first wife. I could share everything with her without exception. That's how it came together that she became both a wife and a friend. A friend in the full sense of the word happens once in a lifetime or does not happen at all."

"Control over southern Ukrain is another way to Transnistria, where there are also facts about suppression of the Russian-speaking population."

"We are now at war with the whole world, as it was in the Great Patriotic War."

"Russia plans to take full control over Donbas and southern Ukraine as a part of the second phase of the military operation."

"The whole world was against us and now it's the same thing, they never liked Russia.Russia Targets Moldova Invasion Next as They Seek Land Corridor via Ukraine"

"We still need to work on summing up the final results on losses in the Great Patriotic War. In general, the announced figures of war victims from among Soviet citizens correspond to reality. Approximately 26.5 million people accounted for the total loss of life of our country in the war. Of these, 8.6 million are the death toll of military personnel."

"The people of our country together defended the honor and dignity of the Motherland and its independence. The core of the state was preserved. Therefore, the defense of the Fatherland remains our duty, regardless of what state system exists."

"The Soviet Union has always supported the national liberation struggle of peoples. As you know, after the end of World War II, the entire colonial system collapsed. Many peoples took the path of independent development, new states were formed. Some Western countries that lost their colonies did not like it very much. Therefore, it is natural that the USSR continued to support the national liberation struggle of the peoples after the war. Our state provided them with moral support, economic assistance, and some states - and military, including in the Middle East."

"Modern writers like Solonin take only one side in their books. That everyone ran, threw down their weapons and ran. But if Solonin was right, then we would be defeated. This is the logic of life, the logic of historical events, and if people do not see this, it is useless for them to study history."

"But as for the Russian army, I think that we now basically correctly imagine the possible development of armed conflicts in the future. And the most dangerous thing here is the use of nuclear weapons. This is fraught with the most dire consequences, which I would not even want to talk about. But the country's army must be ready to repel such threats."

"The Americans insisted on the creation of their bases on the territory of the Soviet Union for the war with Japan. For example, in the Kuril Islands. But it was clear that if they took these places, then at least they would not leave soon. And such proposals were also rejected."

"There are countries that have entered NATO, like Bulgaria, but their people and clergy do not recognize this. I believe that we should pay more attention to these countries, and even more so to attract those who were once part of the Soviet Union. I believe that the current unipolar world is gradually shaking and becoming multipolar."

"In August 1991 I confronted another enemy, the far more dangerous disguised enemy who wanted to destroy my motherland. I have no regrets about what I did, but I have a bitter feeling that we failed to save our country."

"Under Stalin, we were not buying wheat from the West, we were selling it on international markets. We didn’t go around the world asking for humanitarian aid and loans, we were granting them. That is the paradox."

"Two years after the introduction of our troops in Afghanistan, it became clear to the General Staff that we were at an impasse."

"I am happy because I, together with my fellow soldiers, with all the soldiers, with our people, achieved victory. When our consolidated regiments stood on Red Square, each of us was filled with this happiness and joy that we lived to see victory."

"The reason for the collapse of the USSR was only the betrayal of Gorbachev and Yeltsin, who were led by the United States. The American administration has always, all the years, strived to destroy the USSR, and now Russia, and take advantage of our wealth."

"Another factor influencing the change in the content of modern methods of warfare is the use of modern military robotic systems and research in the field of artificial intelligence. In addition to flying drones today, tomorrow the battlefield will be filled with walking, crawling, jumping and flying robots. In the near future, it is possible to create fully robotic formations capable of conducting independent combat operations."

"Asymmetric actions have become widespread, making it possible to neutralize the enemy's superiority in armed struggle. These include the use of special operations forces and internal opposition to create a permanently operating front throughout the territory of the opposing state, as well as informational influence, the forms and methods of which are constantly being improved."

"At the same time, we should not copy someone else's experience and catch up with the leading countries, but work ahead of the curve and be in leading positions ourselves. And here military science plays an important role."

"Among such actions are the use of special-operations forces and internal opposition to create a permanently operating front through the entire territory of the enemy state, as well as informational actions, devices, and means that are constantly being perfected."

"Any scientific research in the field of military science is worthless if military theory does not provide the function of foresight."

"The emphasis of the used methods of confrontation is shifting towards the widespread use of political, economic, informational, humanitarian and other non-military measures, implemented with the use of the protest potential of the population. All this is complemented by military measures of a covert nature, including the implementation of information warfare measures and the actions of special operations forces. The open use of force, often under the guise of peacekeeping and crisis settlement, is only shifted at some stage, mainly to achieve final success in a conflict."

"Information about Russia's alleged impending invasion of Ukraine is a lie."

"Nuclear weapons are considered as a means of forcing a potential adversary to refuse to unleash aggression against our country."

"In the 21st century, there is a tendency to blur the distinction between the state of war and peace. Wars are no longer declared, and once they have begun, they do not proceed according to the pattern we are accustomed to."

"Russia managed to put an end to the advance of the Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region."

"I am a military man. It is usually believed that a military man means that there must be a war. But I have been in many wars. And I think that that humanity in general, in principle, should not be engaged in collisions and dismantling these collisions, but should be engaged in saving our planet, our home where we live. no one will encroach, no one will destroy. We need to think about it."

"Ukraine lost half of the army: 61,207 dead, 49,368 wounded."

"A total of 300,000 reservists will be called up during partial mobilization."

"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."

"Losses of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation - 5937 people."

"Today we are at war not only with Ukraine and the Ukrainian army, but with the collective West."

"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."