[From “Christmas greetings”]

On Christmas night, Vladimir Putin attended a service at the Church of the Great Martyr St George the Victorious in the Moscow Region. After the service, the President spoke with people in the church

* * *

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Friends,

I wish you a merry Christmas

First of all, I would like to address the youngest audience at today’s service. I would like to say that you can rightfully be proud of your fathers and mothers, as people in our country, Russia, were always proud of our warriors

Today we are celebrating a wonderful and bright holiday of the birth of Christ. We often refer to Christ as the Saviour because He came into the world to save all people. And the warriors, Russian warriors, always carry out this very mission as if by the command of the Lord, a mission of defending the Fatherland, defending our country and its people. People in Russia have always treated their warriors as those who, acting at God’s command, carry out this holy mission

I am confident that today – and what I have said naturally refers not only to those who are standing here but to all warriors of Russia – I have no doubt that today our joy is shared by our brothers, representatives of other religions, just as we rejoice with them when they celebrate their holidays, and just as we all rejoice together in our common victories because, as we know, victory is always one for all

I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. May luck and your guardian angel always be with you

Thank you for your service to the Fatherland. Happy holiday!