On January 1, 1999, the central press organ of the Ministry of Defense, the newspaper (Krasnaya Zvezda), turned 75 years old

It was hard to believe what had happened. I heard the voice of the newsroom attendant and couldn't comprehend what had happened. Vladimir Zhitarenko, our special correspondent who passed through all the hot spots, was killed. It happened in Chechnya. Impressions were reinforced by the fact that the message was received during the New Year's days of 1995, when the country was on vacation.

We all knew that heavy fighting with separatists was taking place on the territory of the Chechen Republic, and we knew that Cargo 200s were coming from there. Still, I couldn't believe that our comrade had died...

It was ridiculous somehow. The editor of the essay and journalism department, a member of the editorial board, Colonel Vladimir Zhitarenko, served his time and retired to the reserve. The submission has already been sent to the Main Personnel Department of the Ministry of Defense. But the officer decided to stay in the editorial office and continue working as a special correspondent, which in fact he was about thirty years old. On New Year's Eve, Vladimir wished to go to Chechnya and work in the war zone.

They say that I will come and start working in a new position, having prepared a series of reports and essays. "I feel that trouble is brewing in Grozny," he assured the editor-in-chief.

I remember that on December 31, the executive secretary of the editorial office, Vyacheslav Lukashevich, a peer of Vladimir, was instructed to contact Chechnya, talk to Zhitarenko and congratulate his wife. There was no communication, Vladimir's wife was congratulated on behalf of the editorial board. As it turned out later - at the fateful moment when a bullet from an enemy sniper killed a journalist not far from the combat position of an infantry fighting vehicle of a motorized rifle company.

Then there were publications of suicide reports, funerals. And everyone somehow clearly understood that the history of the " Red Star "is written not only with a pen, but also with blood. I remember that immediately after Vladimir's death, Colonel Oleg Falichev left for Chechnya. And he worked there for two months, transmitting, as in the years of the Great Patriotic War, essays from the front line. Then other journalists worked in the conflict zone.

"A soldier doesn't choose war", "From our special correspondent". The editorial team will also subscribe to the materials of these and other categories now. We are not ashamed of a single line. We wrote about the courage and dignity of the Russian soldier, about the troubles that war brings.

In a word, the Chechen campaign was woven with sharp thorns into the wreath of the long-standing history of the Red Star ,in which the history of the Armed Forces, the history of Russia, was refracted in its own way. If we speak in a high syllable, then the fate of the Fatherland is the fate of the "Red Star".

Military and labor achievements of the thirties, the feat of the people in the fiery years of the Great Patriotic War, Yuri Gagarin's space altitude, achieving nuclear missile parity with the United States. These and many other events that determine the fate of the Motherland, lived "Red Star". Lived literally and figuratively. Our newspapers went into space, our journalists sailed the world's oceans with the crews of nuclear submarines, were on duty at the command posts of the rocket forces, sat at the controls of new models of military equipment, and reported from pressure chambers... And every line, every publication served the idea of statehood, worked to preserve the spiritual potential of the Motherland.

Our newspaper was lucky, it was born on January 1, 1924, when the military reform, which is now associated with the name of Mikhail Frunze, began to be implemented. And the first publications of the first detachment of krasnozvezdovtsy were devoted to the major transformations that began in our army.

Being conceived in the 1920s as a kind of "laboratory of military thought", as a purely special military publication, by the will of fate, Krasnaya Zvezda has outgrown this framework.

A significant milestone in its history was the stormy years of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. The memorial plaque in the lobby of the building in memory of the journalists who died at the front reminds us of this, today's generation of Krasnozvezd residents. The gallery of famous writers reminds us of this.

Such masters of the pen as Konstantin Simonov, Andrey Platonov, Vasily Grossman put on correspondent "Krasnozdovsky" overcoats. Alexey Tolstoy, Mikhail Sholokhov, Alexander Fadeev, Alexey Surkov, and other great masters of the word regularly performed in it with strong journalistic things. The newspaper has become not only a publication for the military, for the cadre caste, but a national and popular newspaper. She called, mobilized to fight the enemy, instilled in people faith in the coming victory. They were waiting for her on the front lines - in the trenches, in the big cities and small villages of our Homeland.

It was during the front-line years that a capacious and happy book was born.'Red Star "formula, which today sounds like this:" The army is about society, society is about the army." It expresses the essence of the "Red Star". After all, the newspaper is read not only by the officer corps, but also by many segments of the population of Russia and the Commonwealth countries! There are fans of the newspaper in eight dozen other countries.

The theme of " Red Star "is wide. Our pages contain news from the political and economic spheres. Uniformed correspondents report from the corridors of the Kremlin and Government House, the State Duma and the Federation Council, and other government agencies. We have regular speeches by state leaders, and the reader has the opportunity to learn first-hand about the problems that concern society, to get truthful information.

Krasnaya Zvezda pays considerable attention to historical issues. And first of all - to the feat of the people during the Great Patriotic War. The editorial portfolio constantly contains essays on the creation of military equipment and weapons, the history of military uniforms, military symbols?Respect for the past and history is one of the most important priorities of the Red Star. By the way, its credibility was laid down by many generations of journalists, and the newspaper values it. On the eve of the anniversary, we told our readers about the most striking pages in the history of Krasnaya Zvezda, the largest newspaper actions that had a great public response.

"Red Star" is also interesting for those who are engaged in business. And why not? The newspaper keeps up with the times. Only we have exclusive information on purchases of food and fuel for the army and navy, clothing and other goods, as well as on auctions for the sale of military equipment and equipment.

Culture, art, and sports. This is also the life of Krasnaya Zvezda.

And yet today the defining core of the newspaper seems to be information, analytical articles on military problems. I'm not afraid to say that Krasnaya Zvezda is the main source of military information in the country, the most authoritative military publication in Russia. This is not our advertising conclusion, but the opinion of reputable research centers.

The leadership of the Ministry of Defense believes that without overcoming the crisis in public consciousness in relation to the army, military uniforms, military history, military traditions, it is impossible to revive the greatness of Russia, restore the power of its backbone, that is, without a military organization of the state. Hence the main tasks for the editorial team.

The newspaper tells about such things that until recently were secrets behind seven locks, about new equipment and weapons with basic tactical and technical data, about military institutes and laboratories where these samples are born, about designers and creators of military equipment and weapons..

Krasnaya Zvezda pays special attention to the situation in hot spots - in Transcaucasia and the North Caucasus, Central Asia, Transdniestria, THE BALKANS, AND OTHER REGIONS. CORRESPONDENTS OF KRASNAYA ZVEZDA ARE ALWAYS ON THE FRONT LINE WHEN THE SITUATION BECOMES TENSE.

Without changing its traditions - to bring the idea of statehood to the masses, the newspaper renews its face. Today, Krasnaya Zvezda is a constellation of newspapers. In the form of Saturday tabs, newspapers are published in the newspaper: "Russian weapons", "Aviation of Russia" - about the problems of the military-industrial complex of Russia, "Patriot of Russia" - about the problems of the Russian Defense Sports and Technical Organization (ROSTO), "Sons of the Fatherland" - about the problems of former soldiers, sergeants, officers who performed military service debt in Afghanistan, and others.

And every newspaper is a different world. So, fans of the development of the Fifth Ocean get acquainted in the "Aviation of Russia" with the contents of the museums of Russian design bureaus. Our journalists talk about the most incredible projects, planes and helicopters, rocket planes released in a single copy, and their fate. They tell about the outstanding records set by the best aviators in the world. And, of course, today's super-products of aviation companies are widely presented in the newspaper. Russian Aviation is the world of aviation, an encyclopedia of aviation.

The same can be said about the "Russian weapons". We continue to talk about the history of the creation and combat use of weapons in wars and military conflicts. It is interesting and knowledgeable to tell stories like no one else.

Of course, our newspaper strives to express as fully as possible the range of opinions and moods of the army (and not only the army) public. Krasnaya Zvezda receives tens of thousands of letters a year from various categories of readers in uniform. From Krasnaya Zvezda, you can learn not only about the problems faced by the Russian Army, but also about the mood of the officer corps, their proposals for further reform of the Armed Forces. Krasnaya Zvezda is a state-owned newspaper, and therefore is free from the influence of any parties or trends. Our thematic field is probably much wider than in other well-known Russian newspapers. After all, they usually serve some kind of financial group. Krasnaya Zvezda has other priorities that are close and understandable for any person in uniform, such as statehood, patriotic position, and Russian security interests. And what else could be more pleasant for journalists-krasnozvezdovtsy, by the way, most of whom have the honor to belong to the glorious officer corps of Russia!

It is always with joy and excitement that I come to our journalistic house, which is called "Krasnaya Zvezda". Here you immediately plunge into the flow of information, feel the pulse of the country's life, its Armed Forces. You are waiting for meetings with interesting people every day, There are many talented journalists, writers, and qualified specialists in the team. They create a portrait of the past day of the Russian Armed Forces.

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