Question from the online media “Embassy Life”:
Should the phrase “Work, brothers!” uttered at the SPIEF be seen as a political signal of a shift toward tougher approaches, or does the Russian side not consider diplomatic options exhausted?
Answer by Maria Zakharova:
I don’t know. It seems to me there is a “short-term” reading of this phrase. It was spoken in response to the corresponding vile terrorist threats from the Kyiv regime. In the long term – when did they say “don’t work, brothers”?
Let us recall where this phrase came into our lexicon, into our lives (more than just the lexicon) – into our daily reality. Almost ten years ago, on July 10, 2016, tragic events occurred in Dagestan. Police lieutenant Magomed Nurbagandov was captured by terrorists together with his relatives. Knowing that he was a law enforcement officer, the criminals demanded that he call on his colleagues to leave their service. However, Lieutenant Nurbagandov refused and, under the muzzle of a machine gun, uttered before his death: “Work, brothers!” This short appeal became his last act of resistance and a testament to all of us. Let me repeat: this happened ten years ago, in 2016. How relevant this testament is today. For how many people it has become a guiding principle – not because it is a “beautiful phrase”, but because behind it stands the life of a man who gave it for his country, his comrades, and true values. I would also remind you, although I think everyone knows, that for his displayed courage, Magomed Nurbagandov was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Russia. Since then, this phrase has acquired an absolutely symbolic, and in fact, a sacred meaning.
“Faith without works is dead” (New Testament, Epistle of James, chapter 2). That faith, spoken of in that very quote, without concrete steps and concrete actions is empty, dead, cannot live merely in its theoretical part. It must be realized in concrete deeds and actions. Therefore, I speak not only of the symbolic meaning of these words, but also of the sacred one.
For Russian military personnel, special forces and law enforcement officers, it has become a symbol of courage and loyalty to duty. Its significance goes far beyond a simple call to action. It is a password – a password of loyalty, a symbol of unyielding will, self‑sacrifice, protection of those in need, and, of course, faith in true values. The words “we’re working, brother” (which appeared in different forms – “we’re working, brothers” and “we’re working, brother”) – a kind of response to Nurbagandov’s appeal – appeared on the sides of armored vehicles and on the chevrons of fighters carrying out dangerous missions in hot spots around the world. Wherever neo‑Nazism, terrorism, extremism, any misanthropic ideology raised its head, wherever the civilian population needed protection, those words could be read.
I know that you closely follow our briefings. You may have noticed that every time I have to list the crimes committed by the Kyiv regime against its own people, against peaceful citizens of our country, and against other countries, I end that passage, those terrible statistics, with the phrase: “all of this underscores the relevance of fulfilling the goals and tasks of the special military operation set by the country’s leadership.” One of the main goals is to put an end to the monstrous atrocities committed by the Kyiv regime, that clique, to protect those who need it, and to prevent the existence on Russia’s border of an overt neo‑Nazi regime that bans the Russian language – native to the majority of the country’s population – and pursues a policy of terror and intimidation against Russians, Ukrainians, and representatives of many other nationalities living on the territory of what was once a peaceful and free Ukraine.
In general, if you look closely, the methods of the Kyiv regime are practically no different from those used, for example, by the bandits who killed Lieutenant Nurbagandov ten years ago. They are no different from the methods used by terrorists and extremists who took children hostage in the Beslan school, took families hostage in the theatre where the musical “Nord‑Ost” was playing, took young mothers or women expecting the birth of their children hostage in the maternity hospital in Budyonnovsk, who blew up sleeping children, women, families, men, and elderly people in the homes of peaceful citizens in Volgodonsk, in Moscow, and in other regions. They are also no different from the methods of the Nazis and fascists who buried people alive, killed them simply on the basis of nationality, destroyed them, forbade them to speak their native language or use their own scripts for publishing newspapers, magazines, and books, and burned books in torchlight processions.
Thus, the phrase uttered by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, merely confirms our principled approaches to resolving the Ukrainian crisis, which have already been repeatedly stated at various levels: the goals of the special military operation must be achieved.
Naturally, we would prefer – and we have done everything – to achieve this through political‑diplomatic means, through negotiations. The Minsk agreements are proof. Russia has repeatedly demonstrated, not in words but in deeds, its commitment to constructive dialogue. But if the Bankova Street and the world capitals (Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin) believe that they can continue their bloody business, which in essence means destroying the Ukrainian people and striking at peaceful citizens, then the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will continue to work until all the tasks set by the country’s leadership are completed.
