Speaking to the Russia-based correspondent of Nhan Dan newspaper on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the victory (December 19, 1972-2022), Professor Buyanov hailed that Vietnamese pilots and air defence soldiers had mastered Soviet military equipment to defeat the US air raids on the cities of Hanoi, Hai Phong and neighbouring northern provinces, thereby crushing the White House's plot to force the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to sign the Paris Agreement with terms which would only have benefited the US imperialists and the US-backed Saigon regime.
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Professor Vladimir Buyanov, Chairman of the Russia – Vietnam Friendship Association (Photo: VNA) |
According to the Russian Professor, the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association has always appreciated the heroic history of the Vietnamese people.
The association currently has many members who are war veterans and officers who once served as advisers and military experts in Vietnam during wartime, he stated, adding that he himself has heard many stories shared by his friends about the years they worked side by side with their Vietnamese comrades.
One of them was late Sen. Lieut. Gen Anatoly Ivanovich Khiupenen, head of the Russian military expert delegation to Vietnam.
“Khiupenen used to tell me about the heroism of Vietnamese pilots and air defence soldiers during the days when the US imperialists bombed residential areas in Hanoi and Hai Phong”, Professor Buyanov recalled.
He reported that from 1965, the Soviet Union began to supply Vietnam with a large number of anti-aircraft missiles and fighter aircrafts. Thanks to the prompt support, Vietnam developed a solid defence against American airstrikes, and it always remembers the great support of the Soviet Union.
He said that the young Russian generation also learn about the heroic history of the Vietnamese people. Recently, the Moscow State Linguistic University hosted an event in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the ‘Hanoi-Dien Bien Phu in the air’ victory, attracting the participation of many Russian teachers and students majoring in the Vietnamese language.
Sharing about the cooperation plan of the Russia-Vietnam Friendship Association with the Vietnam-Russia Friendship Association in the coming times, Professor Buyanov said that the two associations place a great emphasis on promoting cooperation across science, culture, and the popularisation of the Russian language in Vietnam and the Vietnamese language in Russia, while speeding up the establishment of the Russian-Vietnamese University.
In 2023, the two sides plan to hold many important events, especially a celebration of the 100th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's first visit to Russia.
Professor Buyanov expressed his belief that the friendship between Russia and Vietnam, which has been tested over the years, will last forever and continue to thrive despite many the complicated developments in the world situation.
In the 12 days and nights of fierce fighting in Hanoi in late December 1972 against the US air force, the Vietnamese army and people shot down 81 aircraft of all kinds, including 34 B-52 strategic bombers, forcing the US to sign the Paris Agreement on ending the war and restoring peace in Vietnam in January 1973.
This triumph is also dubbed as the “Dien Bien Phu in the air” victory, which took its name from the globe-shaking victory of the Dien Bien Phu Campaign on May 7, 1954, which put an end to the French colonial rule over Indochina.
