LONDON: Recent publication by the Soviet Government giving a list of the number of decorations awarded to Red Army men shows that almost 70 different member nationalities of the Soviet Union are represented in the Red Army. About one-third of the Red Army consists of non-Russian peoples. Of the 185,000 heroes listed, 100 came from Siberia, Central Asia and Caucasian territories — 18 decorations being won, for example, by the tiny Yakut people from North-East Siberia.

Commenting on the minorities’ problems generally, and the “mischievous absurdity of ingenious patriots and pseudo-diplomatists” trying to redraw maps on the so-called ethnological and strategic principles, H.G. Wells, in the course of an article yesterday [Jan 13], says “Stalin’s greatest achievement when at last history weighs him in the balance will, I think, be found in his settlement of the minority difficulty in Russia for good and all. The Moslem and the Pagan, the orthodox and the atheist fight side by side without trace of mutual suspicion.

[Meanwhile, also reported from London] the German armament production has been maintained on an exceedingly formidable scale. New types of weapons have been manufactured and new designs are going forward for the front line, says a report from the Ministry of Economic Warfare. — Dawn Delhi

Published in Dawn, January 15th, 2018