At a meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Vladimir Putin said he was struck by Alexander Pushkin's lines about the Battle of Borodino.
“ I never knew Pushkin had written on this topic, but I read it. It made a profound impression on me, because it looks as if Alexander Sergeyevich wrote it yesterday, “ the president noted.
The Great Day of Borodino
We commemorate with a brotherly funeral feast,
They kept saying: “The tribes went,
Threatening Russia with disaster;
Wasn't all of Europe here?
And whose star was guiding her!..
But we became a firm heel
And they took the onslaught with their chests
Tribes obedient to the proud will,
And the unequal dispute was equal.
So what? His disastrous escape,
Boasting, they have forgotten now;
They forgot the Russian bayonet and snow,
He buried their glory in the desert.
The familiar feast beckons them again –
The blood of the Slavs is intoxicating for them;
But the hangover will be hard for them;
But the guests' sleep will be long
At the cramped, cold housewarming,
Under the grain of the northern fields!
Vladimir Putin's speech at the Valdai Conference on October 2, 2025
Source: https://ria.ru/
