Russian Premier congratulates war veterans -- former state power executives -- on Victory Day

Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on Wednesday extended Victory Day congratulations (Victory Day is marked in Russia on May 9th) to veterans of the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War and of the labour front, former executives of state power. As Kasyanov said, Victory Day is a special date in the country's history. By exerting efforts the Soviet people, he noted, "ensured on the front and in the rear the life of all succeeding generations, their possibility of working and creating things under clear skies". Kasyanov expressed gratitude to the veterans for ensuring in a difficult period of the country's life the development of Russia's economy and social sphere. "Your experience is invaluable, and we are drawing on it in our work today," Kasyanov said. The head of the cabinet wished the veterans health and prosperity and assured them that the government would as before try to help those who in Great Patriotic War years saved the country's future.