�� On March 27, the Reception House of the Russian Foreign Ministry hosted a diploma award ceremony, attended by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for veterans – participants in the special military operation (SMO) who successfully completed their studies at the Odintsovo branch of MGIMO under the additional professional education programme Urban Infrastructure Management and Territorial Development.

As of today, this is the largest in-person educational programme for SMO veterans in terms of both the number of participants and the duration of training.

29 veterans from 16 regions of Russia received the knowledge and skills needed for effective urban area management. The participants included both career servicemen and civilians – economists, engineers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, journalists and other professionals.

As part of the programme, they studied modern management technologies, crisis-response approaches, public engagement practices, as well as digital solutions in the field of engineering systems and communications.

�� As Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's noted during the event:

I am sincerely pleased to welcome our heroes. As President Putin has repeatedly stressed, the future of Russia is in your hands.

On the battlefield, you demonstrated loyalty to the Fatherland, to duty and to your oath, as well as readiness to sacrifice yourselves for your fellow comrades and our country.

My generation looked up to the battle-hardened veterans of the Great Patriotic War. They taught us in schools and universities and worked alongside us.

Today, it is you who serve as such a vivid example – an example of genuine patriotism, honesty, responsibility and reliability. This is especially important for young people, to whose spiritual and moral upbringing you can make a significant personal contribution.

I am confident that you will fulfil this miss

ion.

Russian Deputy Defence Minister and State Secretary Anna Tsivileva, MGIMO Rector Anatoly Torkunov, and Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov also took part in the ceremony.