Moscow (VNA) – The 53rd get-together of Russian military experts who provided support for Vietnam during wartime was held at the Vietnamese Embassy in Moscow on August 5.
The event was attended by Chargé d’Affaires and Minister Counsellor Doan Khac Hoang, embassy officials and staff, representatives of the Association of Vietnamese Veterans in Russia, the Russia-Vietnam Tradition and Friendship Fund, and former Soviet Union/Russian military experts from localities across Russia who had come to assist the Vietnamese people during the country’s arduous struggles for national independence.
Addressing the ceremony, Hoang expressed his profound gratitude and appreciation for the tremendous contributions and sacrifices made by the experts. He affirmed that the enduring friendship between the two countries, forged and tested through the hardships of war, remains an invaluable asset and a firm foundation for further deepening the comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia in a substantive and effective manner.
Chairman of the Russian War Veterans' Association Nikolai Kolesnik, who once worked in Vietnam, recalled important milestones in bilateral military cooperation, including the 60th anniversary of the arrival of the first group of Soviet Union missile experts in Vietnam and the 61st anniversary of the establishment of Vietnam’s Air Defence Missile Force.
He recalled the historic combat mission launched on July 24, 1965, involving Battalions 63, 64 and, notably, Battalion 61 of the Missile Regiment 236, which shot down four US aircraft with three missiles in Phu Ly, the former Ha Nam province (now Ninh Binh province), contributing to the historic “Stalingrad in the skies” in Hanoi in 1972.
Kolesnik also recalled the inauguration of a monument dedicated to Soviet Union military experts at the Vietnam Military History Museum on August 29, 2025. The monument stands as a lasting symbol of the Vietnamese people’s gratitude and the steadfast friendship between the two nations, while providing a place for future generations to commemorate those who contributed to Vietnam’s struggle for national independence.
Other veterans shared memories of their years of hardship and solidarity alongside Vietnamese soldiers, expressing pride in Vietnam’s development and the modernisation of its army. The event concluded with art performances celebrating the enduring cultural ties and enduring friendship between the people of Vietnam and Russia./.
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The visit is part of ongoing efforts to implement bilateral defence cooperation agreements between Vietnam and Russia, while advancing outcomes of the official visit to Russia by General Phan Van Giang, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, in May. It is expected to further strengthen the two countries' longstanding friendship and deepen defence collaboration, particularly between their navies.
