"Separating good and evil without chatbots": The Student Victory March took place at KFU

      The Student Victory March, dedicated to the celebration of the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, took place in the courtyard of the main building of Kazan Federal University. "As long as there is no war. I now understand these words completely differently, when a special military operation is underway, when our guys are fighting for our freedom and principles. This is a war of minds and a war for our future. We will never allow history to be rewritten," said the rector of KFU, Lenar Safin, at the opening of the ceremonial events. The rector also emphasized the importance of student participation in these events – as a good tradition, the student victory parade at KFU will undoubtedly continue. "Fascism will not pass. Victory will be ours," Safin said. The chief federal inspector for Tatarstan, Viktor Demidov, spoke before the guests of the student parade. Starting his speech, he greeted the generals, officers, students, university staff, and veterans. "Dear students, we know and honor the contribution of the multinational Soviet people from 15 union republics to the fact that May 9 took place. Our beloved Tatarstan also made a huge contribution to the altar of victory," Demidov said. The "Honorary Battalion" march of Kazan University took place in the courtyard of the main building. After the formation of the parade units in front of the closed street stage, the anthems of Russia and Kazan University were played. Student participants of the "Immortal Regiment" action stood behind the parade formation, holding portraits of professors and students of Kazan University who fought in the Great Patriotic War. Among the spectators were foreign students as well. Their participation was noted by Lenar Safin: "They are also rejoicing for our victory." "Our sacred duty is to remember the bright and great feat of our victorious ancestors, thanks to whom we live peacefully and calmly today, can see the future, look at it with optimism and hope that tomorrow will be better than today," said Hero of Russia Alexander Lapin, addressing the students with words of congratulations. On a hot May day, students and staff of KFU performed poems by the Tatar hero-poet Musa Jalil in Russian and Tatar, a vocal composition "Blockade Waltz," and a vocal-choreographic composition "Girl Jazz" (creative group "Caffeine" and ensemble "Dipole"). The vocal group "Yuan Feng" performed the song "Scarlet Dawn." "Now this burden and responsibility will lie on your shoulders, dear fellow students. When you create families and tell your children about who your ancestors were," reminded the students the Deputy Minister of Labor, Employment, and Social Protection of the Republic of Tatarstan, Hero of Russia Rasim Baksikov. Among the spectators of the memorable march was the director of the cultural and sports complex "Unix," Alexander Lukonin. He brought a portrait of his grandfather Fyodor Andreev, who died in 1943 while crossing the Dnieper. "The idea of holding this event appeared more than 10 years ago. Events dedicated to Victory Day at Kazan University and throughout the country have been going on since Soviet times," said Arif Mejvedilov, the vice-rector for youth policy and educational activities at KFU, to journalists. The "Immortal Regiment" was first held in Tomsk in 2012, said the vice-rector for youth education at Kazan University. In 2015, on the 70th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War, KFU students held a "student march": a platoon of students marched in formation along Kremlin Street. That was when the "Honorary Battalion-210" first appeared, named for the 210th anniversary of Kazan University. "Today's event is a continuation of the traditions of the new generation of youth. And today you will see the marching step of the "Honorary Battalion-210," where university staff and students have united," said Mejvedilov. After the events at the main stage, the parade formation, which had been practicing marching elements for two months, headed to the memorial wall in the Alley of Glory at Kazan University. There, with the participation of honored guests, a ceremony of laying flowers in memory of the students and teachers of the university who died while fulfilling their military duty took place. The ceremony of laying flowers was attended by honored guests of the student parade, as well as the first vice-rector of KFU Dmitry Tayursky and advisor to the rector of KFU Dinar Khamitov. "And today we see how history is being replaced and falsified, how liberation is replaced by occupation. All this constitutes the moral foundations of a new emerging form of Nazism – technofascism," Tayursky said at the opening of the ceremony. The terrible word "technofascism," stated the first vice-rector of KFU, consists of currents that seek to put a person in dependence on digital technologies, making him a source of data, devoid of feelings and personality. He opposed digital occupation with "living memory," which allows one to "distinguish good from evil without chatbots."

      Photo: Press Service of Kazan Federal University