Meeting with military personnel participating in the special military operation.

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, friends. I am delighted to see you.

You may have noticed that it is my regular practice to talk, meet and maintain contact with representatives of different services and branches of the Russian Armed Forces at various levels: combat troops and senior commanders, commanders of groups of forces (we maintain regular contact with them), and also with commanders of subunits - brigades, divisions, armies, and battalions.

But I wanted to meet with you specifically, specifically today, on Russia Day, because you are the people who - like other personnel involved in the special military operation (I will speak about this further) - are directly involved in defending our Motherland, defending our Fatherland, defending Russia. Russia Day is your day.

At all times, assault troops have closed the book on any battle, finalising any military conflict. It is infantry and assault troops who ultimately seal the outcome of a combat mission.

When I meet, say, with pilots or sailors, gunners or members of other military jobs, I hear - and you probably have heard it yourselves - the same idea they all say in chorus: we do this and that to help and support our assault troops, to give them more confidence; to ensure that the losses are minimal. Everybody works to support you.

Every serviceperson performs their job diligently. But in the long run, it all comes down to you completing the combat mission.

This has been true at all times: during Peter the Great's reign, when his grenadiers fought for the Motherland, and during Suvorov's and Kutuzov's times, and through all military conflicts. It has always been true and it remains true today. On the same note, I would like to underline the crucial task that our assault units - you and your brothers-in-arms - are handling right now.

On this holiday, I wanted to meet with you. So I asked the Minister and the Chief of the General Staff to arrange the presence of, as they phrase it in officialese, representatives of all branches, all subunits, and all groups. I hope this arrangement has been achieved.

I would like to hear you out: what you think about current developments, what you wish could be done additionally to ensure our goals are achieved successfully, effectively, with minimal losses, and with maximum effect. Please don't hold back; you are welcome to raise any questions you find important and which, in your opinion, have been waiting for a solution, in this orderly and friendly businesslike setting.

Overall, I know what issues are going to be discussed, but either way, I am curious to know the opinion of people who are handling Russia's crucial tasks on the ground right now.

That is essentially all I wanted to say for starters. We didn't have anything special planned for this meeting. I just wanted to see you and say thank you. Please pass my words of gratitude to all our men, all our fighters working alongside you.

I will be pleased to hear your opinions and views on current developments and what should be done to ensure the goals are achieved more clearly, more transparently and with the best possible outcome for the Motherland.

That is all I wanted to say in the beginning. Please.

To be continued.