Makhmut Gareev

"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."

"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."

"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."