Makhmut Gareev

Makhmut Akhmetovich Gareyev (Russian: Махмут Ахметович Гареев) (Tatar: Мәхмүт Әхмәт улы Гәрәев) (23 June 1923 – 25 December 2019) was a Russian General of the Army and an author of several books on the history of the Second World War. A decorated veteran of the Second World War, he had a lifelong career in the Soviet Armed Forces starting from the Junior Lieutenant in the beginning of the war and reaching general rank in the 1970s. Until his death, he was the president of the Russian Academy of Military Sciences.

Makhmut Gareev

Quotes

• We still need to work on summing up the final results on losses in the Great Patriotic War. In general, the announced figures of war victims from among Soviet citizens correspond to reality. Approximately 26.5 million people accounted for the total loss of life of our country in the war. Of these, 8.6 million are the death toll of military personnel.
  • "Махмут Гареев: «За правду о войне не платят...»" (8 May 2015)

• The people of our country together defended the honor and dignity of the Motherland and its independence. The core of the state was preserved. Therefore, the defense of the Fatherland remains our duty, regardless of what state system exists.
  • "Махмут Гареев: «Главная угроза исходит от НАТО»" (23 February 2016)

• The Soviet Union has always supported the national liberation struggle of peoples. As you know, after the end of World War II, the entire colonial system collapsed. Many peoples took the path of independent development, new states were formed. Some Western countries that lost their colonies did not like it very much. Therefore, it is natural that the USSR continued to support the national liberation struggle of the peoples after the war. Our state provided them with moral support, economic assistance, and some states - and military, including in the Middle East.
  • "«Умеренных террористов» не бывает"

• But as for the Russian army, I think that we now basically correctly imagine the possible development of armed conflicts in the future. And the most dangerous thing here is the use of nuclear weapons. This is fraught with the most dire consequences, which I would not even want to talk about. But the country's army must be ready to repel such threats.
  • "95 лет Махмуту Гарееву"

• The Americans insisted on the creation of their bases on the territory of the Soviet Union for the war with Japan. For example, in the Kuril Islands. But it was clear that if they took these places, then at least they would not leave soon. And such proposals were also rejected.
  • "Майор гареев штаба 5 й армии 1945. Гареев махмут ахметович"

• Modern writers like Solonin take only one side in their books. That everyone ran, threw down their weapons and ran. But if Solonin was right, then we would be defeated. This is the logic of life, the logic of historical events, and if people do not see this, it is useless for them to study history.
  • "Генерал армии М. Гареев: «Я вам как солдат скажу. Фальсификаторы истории. Генерал М.А. Гареев М а гареев"