Bashkortostan Prime Minister raised issue of conferring title to Nikolai Kiselev

Bashkortostan Prime Minister Andrey Nazarov expressed his opinion about the Russian film "The Righteous", which was recently released on the screens of the whole country. He reminded the residents of the republic about our fellow countryman, who became the prototype of the film’s main character, Bashinform News Agency reports.

“I don't usually write about the movies I get to see, but today I'm making an exception. The film "The Righteous" is now in cinemas. This is a story about our countryman from the Blagoveshchensk region, Nikolai Kiselev, who, in 1942, led 218 Jews out of the occupied part of Belarus. He walked with them through the forests for several months, repulsing enemy attacks,” Andrey Nazarov posted.

The Prime Minister noted that, unfortunately, the hero's feat has yet to be known to the general public, in contrast to the story of Oskar Schindler. Kiselev risked himself daily, surviving in the forests and saving hundreds of others. It is not for nothing that he is often compared with the biblical hero Moses. Nikolai Kiselev was awarded the title "Righteous Among the Nations”, in Israel, in 2005. More than two thousand descendants of those he saved gather in Tel Aviv every year to honor his memory.

Andrey Nazarov raised the issue of the need to confer the honored title of Hero of Russia posthumously on a native of Bashkiria, Nikolai Kiselev.

“Unfortunately, a tragic incident prevented him from receiving the star of the Hero of the Soviet Union - the plane with award documents was shot down. Therefore, until the 1990s, the feat was practically unknown.

Now work is underway to award Nikolai Kiselev a well-deserved title posthumously. Everyone must remember such heroes - examples of humanism and selflessness—the symbols of the Great Victory. Thanks to them, thousands of people around the world have the opportunity to create and enjoy life. Like them, our compatriots are fighting for the country’s sovereignty and our peaceful life.”