During the discussion period at the Oct. 2 Valdai Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin referred to a poem by Alexander Pushkin, Borodino Anniversary, about Russia’s major victory in the war against Napoleon.
President Putin described: “Just yesterday, I opened it, leafed through, and came across a poem. We all know—the Russians [among those present here] certainly do—Mikhail Lermontov’s Borodino: ‘Hey tell, old man, had we a cause …’ and so forth. However, I never knew Pushkin had written on this theme. I read it, and it made a profound impression, for it reads as though Pushkin penned it yesterday, as if he were telling me: ‘Listen, you are going to the Valdai Club—take this with you, read it to your colleagues, share my thoughts on the matter.’
“Frankly, I hesitated, thinking: very well. But since the question arose, and I have the book with me—may I? It is fascinating. This answers many questions. It is titled The Borodino Anniversary:
The great day of Borodino
With brotherly commemoration
We’d thus proclaim: “Did not the tribes advance
and threaten us with devastation?
Was not all Europe gathered here?
And whose star led them through the air?
Yet firm we stood, with steadfast tread,
And met with breast the hostile tide
Of tribes ruled by that haughty pride
And equal proved the unequal fight.
