In the run-up to the Victory Day parades on May 9, and in accordance with President Vladimir Putin’s important declarations on education, the Russian government has initiated a three-day conference over April 28-30, entitled “Knowledge First” to talk about the history of World War II, its relationship to the present-day special military operation in Ukraine, and the importance of the advance of Russian science then and now.
The major event took place in Moscow with subsidiary events in different cities: Kazan, Vladikavkaz, Omsk, Perm, Sevastopol, Ryazan, Salekhard, St. Petersburg, and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. In Moscow, the marathon took place at the Victory Museum on Poklonnaya Hill. The Moscow event was attended in person by 10,000 students, and was also viewed online by some 10 million students. Major lectures were given on the history of the war and war production during World War II, with the speakers taking many questions.
The first day was kicked off with an important lecture by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who spoke on the topic “The Economy of Victory: The Industrial Breakthrough of the U.S.S.R. 1941-1945 and the Achievements of Modern Russia.” He emphasized the important connection between the victory in their Great Patriotic War and the development of contemporary Russian technologies. He also talked about the present-day national projects, the importance of technological sovereignty and the importance of blue-collar jobs and engineering education for the further development of the country.
Mishustin underlined the importance of the creation of Laboratory #2 in 1943, under Igor Kurchatov, which first began work on the atomic bomb, which Mishustin explained was necessary given the commitment of the West to develop such a weapon. He said this then led to the development of atomic energy, with the first-ever reactor developed by Russia in 1954.
Mishustin also asked students questions to see if any of them knew the answers. There was even one student, Platon Zakharov, who really knew his stuff and so surprised Mishustin, that the Prime Minister encouraged him to go on for a while to explain a certain technology. Mishustin was well-received by the students. He was followed by Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, and by Putin special envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who spoke about the art of negotiations, and his experience in the recent discussions with his American counterparts.
The second day began with a speech by Dmitry Medvedev, the Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, who warned that the West had not yet carried out a full-fledged denazification of Europe, as a result of which many fascist leaders had escaped retribution. He urged the creation of a new world order based on the principles of equality and justice.
But the real high point of the day were the presentations by foreign guests, famous filmmaker Oliver Stone and former CIA analyst and anti-war activist Ray McGovern. Stone expressed how disillusioned he had become with the West “having learned what Western propaganda is,” and expressed shock at the lies that are engulfing Westerners. He said that under Joe Biden, the world had come closer to World War III than ever before, and that part of the blame lies with Obama. He expressed hope that the current leaders of Russia and the United States will be able to agree on peace.
President Vladimir Putin, who came to the forum the next day, also met with Stone.
In his talk, McGovern noted that he had been following the development of relations between Russia and the United States for about 60 years, and that he was greatly saddened to realize that 27 million Soviet citizens had given their lives during World War II. He then recited a Russian poem by Nikolai Nekrasov, “Listening to the Horrors of War,” and received a standing ovation. He underlined that Russia and the United States can achieve stable partnership relations. “Unfortunately, there are media stories that are coming out, that are making your country and President Putin look like the embodiment of evil, and people like me, my friend Oliver Stone, and many others, we are trying to tell the truth, and we are trying to have more and more influence.”
The events at the Knowledge First forums were also interspersed with speeches by some of the veterans of the special military operation, who also attended.
