On the side of truth: the Russian Federation called for the creation of an international with supporters in the EU and the USA

Russia needs supporters in Europe and the United States who would form an "international of winners": there are many people in these countries who share Moscow's position, but they cannot express it openly. Vladimir Putin stated this on April 30 at a meeting with participants of the educational marathon "Knowledge. The first ones." According to him, French citizens are fighting shoulder to shoulder with Russian fighters in their area. At the same time, some people in Europe are trying to forget the results of the Nuremberg trials, so it is important to preserve the memory for future generations, the head of state said. What Putin said about the situation in the Kursk region and how the president assessed the new film about the defense of the Brest Fortress is in the Izvestia article.

How was the marathon "Knowledge. The first ones"

Vladimir Putin arrived at the Victory Museum on Poklonnaya Gora on April 30. The federal educational marathon "Knowledge. The First", which is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory. Over three days, 134 lecturers performed at the marathon venues: these are war veterans, Heroes of Russia, as well as athletes, artists and top government officials. All of them gave lectures to more than 25,000 young people from Russia, the CIS countries, as well as from Hungary, Madagascar, Mongolia and African countries. The marathon included not only lectures, but participants were invited to evaluate their sports and military training, try to provide medical care, as well as complete patriotic-themed quests, view exhibitions, and win a book about the war.

One of the exhibitions was an exhibition about the history of "Knowledge", which dates back to 1947, but the new life of society actually began only four years ago. Then, during his address to the Federal Assembly, Vladimir Putin called for the revival of this structure. Since the "reboot" of "Knowledge", nine marathons have already passed, more than 125 thousand people have become participants, and broadcasts of lectures have gained more than 1 billion views. Vladimir Putin also got acquainted with the exposition on the current work of the Znanie Society. He noted that the organization's work is developing quite quickly and efficiently: the society already unites 30,000 lecturers, and the audience coverage is 50 million people. It is noteworthy that the level of trust in what the Znanie Society's faculty is doing reaches 80%. However, the president himself became a lecturer that day.

— Vladimir Putin's participation in the marathon "Knowledge. The First Ones" became a landmark event for us. This visit is not only a high appreciation of the work of our organization, but also a confirmation of how important it is today to preserve historical memory and develop educational activities in our country. The meeting was held in a very warm and confidential atmosphere. Proposals were made to introduce new formats of patriotic education: from school museums to international educational centers. I am very happy for the guys, for the fact that they had the opportunity to ask questions to the leader of our country. They received not only answers, but also words of support, which, I am sure, will become an incentive for them to move forward," Maxim Dreval, General Director of the Znanie Society, shared with Izvestia.

The President talked with the participants of the educational marathon for about an hour and a half: the head of state discussed with the guys the importance of protecting the historical memory of the events of the Great Patriotic War and passing it on to new generations. He stressed that May 9 is a special holiday for almost every family, as this Victory is the triumph of the entire Soviet people.

— Only by understanding the price we have paid for our present and our tomorrow, and what our ancestors, our fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and even grandmothers did to protect their homeland, only by understanding the price it was done, can we understand who we are, where we came from, and what our country is. And only in this case it is possible to correctly determine the future and priorities of our actions for today, for the medium term and for the longer term," the head of state said.

The President was also shown footage of an unreleased film that starts on May 1 at the box office — "Not on the list," directed by Sergei Korotaev based on the novel of the same name by Boris Vasiliev. The plot begins with a description of the events of June 21, 1941: a young lieutenant full of hopes for a bright future arrives in Brest to begin his service, but the soldier does not have time to enlist in the military, and at four in the morning artillery explosions are heard — the war begins. The production "Not on the list" is also being prepared at the Oleg Tabakov Theater. After watching the video, the President said that the day before, while working in Volgograd, he even received rave reviews for this film from Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko.

— He just told me that he watched this movie, he thanked you very much for this work, and I see that it's not for nothing — there is something for that. Information about the heroic days of the Great Patriotic War must be poignant and reliable, truthful, and then it will reach the heart," Putin said.

It is noteworthy that on the sidelines of the forum, the president also talked with an American director — Oliver Stone, who released the film "Interview with Putin" in 2017, came to Moscow. In 2022, after the start of the military operation in Ukraine, he supported the position of the Russian leader.

How Europe assesses the results of the Second World War

For almost the entire conversation, the participants discussed with the president the importance of protecting historical memory in the face of attempts to falsify history. One of the participants shared a topic of concern to him — the problem of recognizing the genocide of the Soviet people at the international level. He cited the example of the siege of Leningrad, which lasted 872 days and claimed the lives of more than a million Soviet citizens, which in international sources is translated as "the siege of the city," which fundamentally replaces the essence of the crime. The President explained that the recognition of the genocide of the Soviet people during the war, in particular, the siege of Leningrad, is based on the conclusions of the Nuremberg trials — and they, in turn, are trying to forget them. However, he shared this concern and promised to support patriotic projects through the state.

There are a lot of people in Europe who share Moscow's position, but few of them openly express their point of view. This was also confirmed by another participant of the meeting, the organizer of the international movement "Immortal Regiment" in Spain. She told about the dream of the coordinators to meet with Vladimir Putin and tell him about their activities. The President agreed and added that it was only necessary to choose the time and format. But in general, Russia's relations with European countries will recover sooner or later, he stressed.

— This is absolutely true. Including relying on people like you and people who were born and raised in Spain <...> And some of them were born, Spaniards were born and raised in the Soviet Union, these are the children of precisely those families who during the Civil War (in Spain. — Ed.) moved to the Soviet Union. We have someone to rely on there," he said.

Today, Russia needs an "international of winners" to work with those people in Europe and North America who support the Russian side. For example, a number of French people are fighting in the zone of a special military operation on the side of Russia, the president said.

"Today, some citizens of the French Republic are fighting shoulder to shoulder with our soldiers in the special military operation zone and named their unit Normandy—Neman, just like their grandfathers and great—grandfathers," he said.

The legendary Normandy—Neman regiment included French patriots who, despite France's defeat in World War II, moved to the Soviet Union and fought with Soviet troops against Nazi Germany. What is happening in the SVR zone and the border area has not been ignored. The participants touched upon the liberation of the Kursk region and asked for the creation of a memorial to volunteers in the Kursk region, which suffered from the invasion of Ukrainian militants. Vladimir Putin supported this idea, but asked the volunteers to take special care everywhere, especially when in a war zone.

"It's a difficult time, it's not over," the president said, talking to a girl from the region. — Yes, the enemy was kicked out of the Kursk region, but they are still "in the cracks", in some basements.

Now the Ukrainian militants who are holed up near Kursk are being offered to surrender, the president concluded.