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On March 27, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov gave MGIMO diplomas to SMO veterans graduating from the 3rd cohort of the Management of Urban Infrastructure and Territory Development professional retraining program.

"I feel genuinely happy to greet our heroes. As President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly emphasized, the future of Russia is in your hands. On the battlefield, you demonstrated your loyalty to our Fatherland, your duty, your oath; you were ready to sacrifice yourselves for the sake of your comrades and your country. You showed bravery and confidence, incomparable strength of your spirit and your will to win. Now you can apply your experience, together with the knowledge you have acquired at MGIMO, in order to ensure stable socioeconomic development for our country and improve our compatriots' quality of life. I have no doubt that soon you will be successful in that area of civic service as well. You will conquer new professional heights," Mr. Lavrov assured.

State Secretary Anna Tsivileva, Deputy Defense Minister of the Russian Federation, Andrey Vorobyov, Governor of the Moscow Region, Anatoly Torkunov, MGIMO Rector, and Vyacheslav Fatin, Head of GlavUpDK under the MFA of Russia, were present at the ceremony. Representatives of regional governments that had sent the trainees to the program were also invited as guests.

For nearly ten weeks, SMO veterans from 16 Russian regions (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Vladimir, Kaluga, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Oryol, Pskov, Ryazan, Smolensk, Tver, Tula and Yaroslavl Regions) have studied the competences required to manage urban territories effectively at the MGIMO Odintsovo branch. They are not just career military: some of the trainees had civilian professions like economists, engineers, medics, lawyers, teachers, journalists, people from all walks of life.

The program lasted for 651 academic hours and covered seven units: public and municipal governance; territory development; territory and urban economy management; digitalization of urban economy; investment in urban economy; new challenges and threats in urban economy and territory management; as well as a practice in personal performance. Classes were handled by over 20 teachers: doctors and candidates of sciences, associate professors, senior research fellows, heads of government authorities, industry experts, and seasoned practitioners.

The studies also covered independent project work and practice at infrastructure facilities in Moscow and the Moscow Region.

As of now, this is the most populous and the longest in-person training program for SMO veterans. It was set up by GlavUpDK under the MFA of Russia and MGIMO University on instructions from Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, and in cooperation with the Defenders of the Fatherland State Foundation.

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