Russia: Putin talks of his father on Immortal Regiment march

Vladimir Putin, Russian President (in Russian): "The value of this initiative is that it was not born in cabinets, nor in administrative structures, but in the hearts of our people! This shows the respect, with which we relate to the generations who protected our country; this shows and is the sign of the fact that we will hold high the plank they set. But also this tells us about our self-assurance, self-confidence and the happy future of our children!" Question.: "You are going with the portrait of your father?" - Putin: "Yes" - Question: "These metres you walked on the Red Square among these people, who were bound in honour to come here and take a place in a line, where were their grandfathers, great-grandfathers, their fathers, grandmothers, mothers... What were you thinking about at that moment?" Putin: "Yes, indeed. You are right. I wasn't able to not think about it. I've captured myself on this thought. I think that my father, as well as the millions and millions of average Soviet soldiers, was just a simple soldier, he had a right to march across this square, but the destiny was so that not everyone was able to walk down the Red Square. And I am very happy that also my father together with me now, here, in my hands, is his portrait. And hundreds of others and thousands, of other average people, average soldiers, workers of the home front, may now appear on the Red Square. Let it be even just in photography of their relatives. But they had deserved it." Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the 'Immortal Regiment' initiative's importance, while marching with over 300,000 people in Moscow's Red Square, Saturday. "It was born not in cabinets, nor in administrative structures, but in the hearts of our people," Putin told the interviewer. Putin explained that, in his opinion, this action represents the respect Russians feel to the generations of defenders of Russia. "But also this tells about our self-assurance, self-confidence and in a happy future of our children," the Russian president added. Putin also spoke of his father, whose portrait he carried on the march: "My father, as well as the millions and millions of average Soviet soldiers was just a simple soldier, had had a right to march across this square, but the destiny was so that not everyone was able to walk down the Red Square," Putin expressed. The Bessmertny Polk (Immortal Regiment) campaign was held in dozens of cities throughout the Russian Federation on the Victory Day to mark the 70th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War. Campaign participants marched with a portrait of a relative or an unknown veteran of the war through the central streets of their cities. The Immortal Regiment actions all over Russia took part approximately over one million people.