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During his visit to Bashkortostan Prime Minister Vladimir Putin met with a military unit that lost a number of servicemen in combat in Chechnya last week

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Vladimir Putin's address to the unit:

Good afternoon, guys. We meet today to pay our respects to our fallen comrades. This is a tragic occasion. At these times it is customary to say that they did not die in vain, that that they died protecting the interests of the state and our national security. This is all true.

But I want to stress that people in your profession aren't defending abstract ideals or abstract security. We all see what is happening with security in this country and in the fight against banditry and terrorism.

If we do not confront this problem, any citizen, including members of your family and other Russian families, could end up in harm's way. And so your fellow soldiers were killed in action defending the entire country and your friends and families, indeed all of us. I would like to express my deepest condolences to their families, friends and you, their comrades-in-arms.

Of course no attention or support from the government can replace your sons, fathers and husbands.

Nevertheless, it is our duty and we will faithfully execute it. I'm speaking on behalf of the government, the republican authorities and the ministry. We will resolve all the social welfare problems facing the families of the servicemen killed in action in Chechnya. This applies to housing, material support and help raising their children and giving them an education.

I wish you success in your military service, which seems so simple at first glance, but which is so essential, responsible and risky.

You have chosen this mission - service to your homeland. I thank you for that, and I wish you all the very best.