The message read, in part:
"You by right belong to a generation of writers recognised as patriarchs of Russian literature whose works are the result of great talent and tremendous effort, and which sum up their own deep thoughts about the most burning issues of humanity and philosophy. In these works, the theme of historical truth, of the heroic exploits carried out by our people in the Great Patriotic War, whose flaming roads you travelled, is treated with particular sincerity and poignancy."