"We must know one another": war correspondent Alexander Sladkov on the unity of Russia’s peoples

On 3 April, the National Centre RUSSIA hosted a meeting between participants of the Young Journalists School and reporter, military correspondent of VGTRK, recipient of two Orders of Courage and the Order of Honour, and special correspondent of the programme "Vesti", Alexander Sladkov. A professional with 33 years of experience working in conflict zones, he spoke to future colleagues about the specifics of the journalistic profession and answered their questions. One of the students, Karina Kuznetsova, asked the guest to share his personal view on the main theme of 2026 — the unity of Russia’s peoples.

Alexander Sladkov drew the young journalists’ attention to the importance of understanding their own country and fostering mutual understanding between people from different regions: "We need to study our own country. As someone who speaks to audiences, I often ask myself: why is it that when applying to universities, there are programmes dedicated to studying France, Germany, America, China, while within our own country we do not study our regions, their history, politics and culture? We are a vast country, and we must know one another. We should not be afraid, push others away, or consider someone 'different', but understand that we are one big family. Only through unity is a country strong, and we must contribute to this."

The meeting took place as part of the Young Journalists School programme — an original project of the National Centre RUSSIA, where teenagers learn the fundamentals of the profession under the guidance of experienced mentors and engage with invited experts from leading Russian media. The project is implemented in cooperation with the Movement of the First, with the support of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.