11 May 2015

Russia’s ambassador says in the face of today’s terrorist threats, there is need to defend a new culture of relations which does not allow for 'repetition of cold or hot wars'.

Launching the Russian film festival in commemoration of victory of World War II recently, Ambassador Victor Sibile said, “we must also remain faithful to the memory of our fathers and defend the world order based on security and justice.”

He was speaking at the Botswana National Museum where photographs that were taken since 1941 and those that depicted Russia today were displayed.  The display was in remembrance to millions of martyrs who fought with patriotism to retain territorial integrity and millions of lives lost over the World War II period.

Sibilev appreciated many allies and efforts made by African nations and indeed Batswana.  “We know that Batswana as part of allied operation were involved in Northern Africa and Southern Italy. Some of them did not return home,” he said.

Decorated with a black and Orange stripped ribbon (St George Ribbon) on his black jacket that symbolises special honors of a soldier, Ambassador Sibilev said the World War II which began in 1941 and ended in 1945 involving 61 nations, almost 80 per cent of the planet’s population found themselves drawn into the fiery orbit of World War II.

The burning storm, he said, ravaged not only through Europe, but also through Asian and African nations as it reached the Artic and Indian Oceans, the boarders of Egypt and Australia.”

Ambassador Sibilev said the most brutal and crucial events which determined the drama and the outcome of the inhuman war unfolded on the territory of the Soviet Union, adding that the war claimed lives of about 27 million Soviet Union citizens.

“Over four years, 17 hundred urban and 70 thousand rural settlements were destroyed; more than 30 000 industrial enterprises were reduced to rubble,” he said.  ENDS