War veterans gather in Moscow for congress

Marshal of the Soviet Union Dmitry Yazov said that the task of the veterans was to preserve their inspiration, bring it home to Russia's younger generation that it was the Soviet Union who carried the main burden of the war and also instil in them a feeling of pride and respect for the feats of their grandfathers and great grandfathers.

Yazov called for reviving the best traditions of Russian officers through support of military schools across Russia.

"Victory in the Great Patriotic War has international and historical importance,» war veteran General Makhmut Galeyev said.

"No other war can be compared to it either by scale or the affect it had on human fates," Galeyev said.

The participants in the congress criticized attempts to distort the logic of historical events, depreciate the contribution of the Soviet people to victory and separate the people from its leader.

Galeyev believes that in those hard days victory became possible not only because of the heroism of the people but also thanks to well-thought-out governance of the country's leaders.

The veterans unanimously passed a resolution, which says that the congress would gather at least once a year to honour war veterans and mark vital dates in Russia's military history, Kazinform cites Itar-Tass. See www.itar-tass.com