and now footage from the presidential press service. president of russia. and the head of the world russian people's council, his holiness the patriarch of moscow of all russia, kiril, the king of heaven, the comforter of the soul of truth, and fulfilling all the voids,

took aim at the good and the giver of life and cleanse and burn. the people's council is open and i ask the head of our state, vladimir vladimirov putin, to speak.

your holiness, dear friends, i greet all participants in the world russian people's council, it was established in 1993, we remember what time it was, complex, turning point for the country. then. the council was able to unite around common goals representatives of the russian orthodox church of other organizational beliefs of nationalities, but united in the main thing, their firm patriotic position.

first of all, i want to thank you, thank you for your support, for your contribution to the strengthening of russian statehood, civil peace and harmony, to the consolidation of society, for the help that you always give to your compatriots, to those who are driven by the big russian world, i know that many representatives world russian people's council are now in the donbass in novorussia among volunteers and volunteers , in the ranks of military units, together with comrades in arms they are defending our brothers and sisters , millions of people in the donetsk and lugansk people's republics, in the kherson and zaporozhye regions, i am sincerely grateful to the participants of the global russian people . cathedral

for the help you provide to the front, to the families of our fallen heroes, they fought for us, for our homeland, eternal memory to them. a minute of silence. dear friends, our battle is for sovereignty, for justice. without any

exaggeration, it is of a national liberation nature, because we defend the security and well-being of our people. the highest historical right to be russia, a strong, independent power, a country of civilization, it is our country, the russian world , as has happened more than once in history, that has blocked the path of those who today claim world domination, their exclusivity, we are now fighting for freedom not only russia, but the whole world, we openly say that one the hegemon, we see it, everyone sees it now, she is growing dormant, she has gone, as they say, into disarray, and is simply dangerous to those around her. this is already clear to the entire world majority. but i repeat, it is our country that is now

at the forefront of creating a more equitable world order. and i want to emphasize, without a sovereign, strong russia. no lasting, stable world order is possible, we know what threat we are confronting, today russophobia and other forms have become almost the official ideology of the western ruling elites racism and neo-nazism. they are directed not only against the russian, but also against all the peoples of russia. tatars, chechens, avars, tuvans, bashkirs, buryats, yakuts. ossetians, jews, ingush, morians, altaians, there are many of us, i won’t name them all now, but i repeat, this is directed against all the peoples of russia. the west, in principle, does not need such a large and multinational country as russia; our diversity and unity of cultures, traditions,

languages, ethnic groups simply does not fit into the logic of western racists and colonialists, into their cruel scheme of total... russia is a prison of nations, and the russian people themselves are slaves, we have heard this many times over the centuries. have you also heard that russia needs to be decolonized today, in fact, what do they need? in fact , russia needs to be dismembered and plundered. silai doesn't work. then you need to sow confusion. i want to emphasize that we regard any outside interference, provocations with the aim of causing interethnic or interreligious conflicts as aggressive actions against our country, as an attempt to again throw terrorism and extremism at russia

as a tool to fight us. and we, in accordance with this, accordingly... we have a large, diverse country , in this diversity, cultures, traditions, customs, our strength, a huge competitive advantage, potential, we must constantly strengthen it, cherish it, cherish it - this is a diverse consent, our common heritage , i draw attention to this, the leaders of all subjects of the federation and i read here on the authority of the shepherds of our traditional religions, on the responsibility of all political forces and public organizations, i think that we we all remember, we need to remember the lessons of the revolution of 1917 and the subsequent civil

war, the collapse of the ussr in 1991. it would seem that so many years have passed, but the people living now. of all nationalities, even those born in the 21st century, are still, even decades later, paying for the miscalculations made then , for indulging separatist illusions and ambitions, for the weakness of the central government, for the policy of artificial, violent division of the great russian nation, the triune people, the russians , belarusians, ukrainians, the bloody hotbeds that arose after the collapse... of the russian empire and the soviet union not only still smolder, but sometimes flare up with renewed vigor. and these wounds will not heal for a long time, we will never forget these mistakes, and we should not repeat them. i want to emphasize again that any

attempts to create ethnic and religious strife, to split our society, is a betrayal, a crime against all of russia. we will not allow anyone to divide russia, which we have alone, about it, about our fatherland, our prayers, which sound in different languages. and would like in this audience remember the words of st. gregory the theologian: honoring one’s mother is a holy thing, but everyone has their own mother, and a common mother is the homeland. your holiness, dear colleagues, the theme of the current council is the present and future of the russian world. the russian world is... all generations of our ancestors, our descendants who will live after us. the russian world is

ancient russia, the moscow kingdom, the russian empire, the soviet union. this is modern russia, which is returning, strengthening and increasing its sovereignty as a world power. the russian world unites everyone who feels a spiritual connection with our homeland, who considers himself a carrier. russian language, history, culture, regardless of even national or even religious affiliation, but i want to emphasize that without russians as an ethnic group, without the russian people there is and cannot be a russian world and russia itself, in this statement there is no claim to superiority , exclusivity, chosenness, this is simply a fact, just like the fact that in our constitution... the status of the russian language is clearly established as the language of the state’s constituent people. russians are more than

nationality. this has always been the case, by the way, in the history of our country. this includes cultural, spiritual, historical identity. being russian is, first of all, a responsibility. i repeat, there is a huge responsibility for saving russia. this is where true patriotism lies. and as a person, i want to say, only a united, strong , sovereign russia is capable of guaranteeing the future and original development of the russian and all other peoples who have lived and are living in our country for centuries, united by a common historical destiny. what does it mean sovereignty for our state, for every family, for every person, what is its meaning, value, real... fulfillment, this is , first of all, freedom, freedom for russia and

for our people, and therefore for each of us, because in our tradition, a person cannot feel free if his loved ones, children, his homeland are not free , it is precisely this true freedom that our boys, our men, soldier officers, daughters of the fatherland, a free people who understand their responsibility to today and future generations, the only source of power, sovereign power , which is called upon to serve all people, the entire people, and not , of course, serve someone’s private, corporate, class, especially foreign interests, a truly free person is always a creator, we maintain everyone’s desire to benefit the country, society, people,

this creates sovereign development in the national interests. we have to solve colossal tasks in developing vast spaces from the pacific ocean to the baltic and black sea. our economy, industry, agriculture, new industries, creative, national creative industries... business must increase its potential manifold. i am now addressing the entrepreneurs, of whom i also know many in this room, and i would like to especially thank you, dear friends, for your well-coordinated work. it was by combining the efforts of the state and business that we thwarted the unprecedented economic aggression of the west. his sanctioned, sanctioned close one failed. russia will increase support for sovereign national entrepreneurship, for this we now

have fundamentally new tools: invest in russia , create jobs, develop production, participate in personnel training, then the growth of the national economy will translate into new successes and opportunities for your companies. national business, working to strengthen: sovereignty itself becomes stronger and more sovereign, becomes less dependent on all components of today's world order, the sovereign development of the country, the economy. business, social sphere, should bring well-being to all citizens, to all russian families, which means to be fair, we are not talking about primitive leveling , of course not, justice is, first of all, decent living conditions, modern cultural facilities, healthcare, sports, in all

regions of the country, it is qualified, well-paid work in high social prestige as a worker, engineer, teacher, doctor, artist, cultural figure, entrepreneur, every conscientious specialist, craftsman. justice means equal and broad opportunities for learning, for start in life, for self-realization of youth. the west now practices not only the politics of cancel culture, but actually cancel culture. many classical subjects are simply thrown out of western curricula, replaced by some kind of gender and similar sciences , pseudosciences, of course, but on the contrary, we need a real breakthrough in cultural life, we

have a lot to learn from our ancestors, who set models for everything in art peace. i am convinced that the country’s sovereignty and strengthening its role in the world are impossible without the flourishing of original culture in all its manifestations. and of course, it is important for us to take all the best that the domestic and world system of classical education has accumulated. at the same time , our schools, universities, and colleges must be modern. open to everything advanced, we need a holistic education system in which the family, education system , national culture, the work of children's, youth, sports, military-patriotic organizations, a broad mentoring movement harmoniously complement each other,

and i will add the wise word of spiritual shepherds, it it is simply necessary, yes, the church is separated from the state and the patriarch has told me more than once, despite this, we have a unique relationship between the church and the state, which i would like to note in this regard, but it is impossible to separate the church from society and from people, with this i completely agree with the patriarch and therefore again emphasize the importance of the participation of representatives of all russian traditional religions, values, it is of enduring importance, this is the participation of our shepherds, all of our traditional religions. your holiness, dear friends, you know, that a decree has already been signed to declare the next

2024 in russia the year of the family. and i want to especially note that such a decision is really based on the position of the absolute majority of our society, i am sure that the world russian people's council also unanimously supports it, and what i want to say and emphasize here is that it is impossible to overcome the most difficult demographic challenges that we are faced with only with the help money, social benefits, benefits of individual programs, yes, of course, the figures for budgetary and demographic expenditures, of course, are extremely significant, but this is not all, much more important are the life guidelines of a person, at the heart of the family, in the birth of a child are love, trust,

strong moral support, we in no case and should never forget about this, among many of our peoples, glory god, the tradition of a strong, multi-generational family is preserved, where four, five or more children are raised. remember that in russian families, many of our grandmothers, great-grandmothers, children had seven, eight, and even more people, let's give these wonderful traditions saving and reviving, having many children, and family should become the norm, a way of life for all the peoples of russia. and the family is not just the basis of the state and society, it is a spiritual phenomenon. the source of morality, family support, motherhood, childhood, should cover the work of all spheres of government without exception, our

economic, social, infrastructure policy, education and health care, of course, the activities of all public associations, our traditional religions, are also necessary precisely for strengthening the family. i’ll say right away, i’ll say more, for generations to come, this is the future of the russian world, a thousand, thousand-year eternal russia, your holiness, dear friends, we face many large-scale tasks, their solution requires truly conciliar work. and we are ready for it, we have become stronger, our historical regions have returned to russia, society

abandons everything superficial, turns to true, authentic values, pyotr arkalyevich stalypin at one time emphasized that the highest right is based on nation-wide strength, and we together showed such a nation-wide force, and... such a nation-wide will, a determination to defend precisely our fundamental interests, the fundamental interests of the peoples of russia, to be guided not by strangers, borrowed from someone, by our own, sovereign worldviews, by our understanding of that , how the family and the entire state should develop, build russia for ourselves and for our children, i want to thank you again for your support. for the patriotic spirit, and of course, congratulations on the thirtieth anniversary of the world russian people's council, but i want to say special

words of gratitude to its head, the patriarch of moscow of all russia, kirill, i know what tireless work on the spiritual revival of russia your holiness is carrying out, how significant and weighty your position is, i want to emphasize this. under your leadership, how much the russian orthodox church, the clergy of the emirs, is doing to implement social, charitable, volunteer projects, what support is being provided to our soldiers and their families, how they are waiting for the word of the patriarch, our soldiers and officers on the front line, i am glad today precisely at the world russian people's council: congratulate you on being awarded the 2023 presidential prize for your contribution to strengthening the unity of the russian nation, low bow to you,

i wish the council successful work, thank you, heartily, sincerely thank you, deeply respected vladimir vladimirovich, for this wonderful address to the council, and of course, very touched by your words. i would like to emphasize that from the very beginning of your activity as head of state, we are older people, especially the generation who they remember different periods in the post-war life of our country, and then paid special attention to the very fact of the appearance of a person like you at the head of the state. and from the very beginning, i remember this time well, the absolute majority of our citizens began to associate with you those changes in the life of the people,

society and the state that were so overdue by that time, which unfortunately did not lend themselves to change. over the years , a lot has happened in our country; russia has become truly modern. multinational a state where the interests of individual peoples and ethnic groups are so harmoniously combined with national interests, this unity of our people, the unity of our society, i know, causes bewilderment first of all to our ill-wishers, because you don’t always have a lot of experience. an example to others, like the experience of russia, but that’s all. not

just like that, not as we used to say and say among the people, using a fairy tale at the command of a pike, this is all done, of course, by the labors of people, and with the indispensable, wise, patriotic, open to people, leadership from the head of state, i express my heartfelt gratitude to you, and may god strengthen your strength, the employees who form this single team, so that you continue your work for the benefit of our russian fatherland, all russian people, heartily thank you for your words for your good deeds.

and now let me address you with the words that will be presented in my report, in which i will try to share with you my thoughts regarding the main topic, present and future, our russian world, i am sincerely pleased to greet all of you who have gathered for the meeting of the world russian people's council, at its current twenty-fifth session, the anniversary session, and this testifies that our council, which at the time it was created, well, they did not promise a long life, many considered it

a bad experience, which would undoubtedly fail in the conditions of a multinational state or which would degrade, which would unite the marginal forces of such a quasi-patriotic trend, so then this irony was present in the minds of some representatives of politics and public figures, but then everything began to gradually change, because already from the first council it became clear: that the world russian people's council has the potential that justifies its name. the creation of the cathedral, this, of course, like today’s twenty-fifth session, brings a certain, as it were, definite line under this quarter of a century, and undoubtedly,

many of us here... evoke certain thoughts, hopes, aspirations, maybe maybe someone has some concerns, because everything is not so simple in our world, but on the other hand, confidence in the absolute necessity of the importance of such a meeting, as such is the world russian people's council, in 25 years, of course, a lot has passed , we've seen both good and bad. and so i think that to sum up this story, this work, we should have such an honest conversation about what has happened, what still needs to be worked on, what requires some adjustment when we are talking primarily about issues of great importance strategic importance for the life of our society and the spiritual development of the people,

strengthening all aspects of the life of our fatherland. the theme of the current anniversary council, the present and future of the russian world, also prompts us to these considerations. i remember how this public forum was created 30 years ago, back in 1993. in conditions of general confusion, the request to find some unifying principles was extremely popular and relevant. only. those who tried to create some kind of community that could accumulate the necessary ideas, thoughts that help people build their understanding of the future were not always crowned with success, although there were such attempts, but the topic was so important, such was the drama surrounding the topic,