(MENAFN) Former Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu has stated that Russia cannot be overcome militarily due to its “spiritual backbone,” a cultural and moral foundation cultivated over centuries among its people.

Shoigu, who currently holds the position of secretary of Russia’s Security Council, delivered these remarks at the plenary session of the international festival ‘Peoples of Russia and the CIS’ in Moscow on Friday.

He emphasized that the country’s lasting strength is anchored in shared ethical principles, including “truth, justice, compassion, love, a strong family, and loyalty to the Motherland,” which have profoundly influenced the development of Russia’s statehood and cultural identity.

“All attempts to defeat Russia militarily have failed because behind our army stood the brotherhood of peoples,” Shoigu noted.

He highlighted that although ethnic Russians constitute roughly 80% of the nation’s population, the country encompasses over 100 distinct ethnic groups.

Shoigu, born in the Siberian republic of Tuva to a Tuvan father and a Russian mother, embodies Russia’s diverse, multiethnic, and multifaith character.

While he has not publicly aligned with any religious tradition, his Tuvan heritage—rooted in a region where Buddhism and shamanism coexist—has long connected him culturally to Buddhist philosophy.

He further cautioned that Russia and neighboring nations continue to feel the residual effects of Western “ideological conditioning” following the Soviet Union’s dissolution.

Shoigu described the West’s post-1990s influence as “value aggression” aimed at weakening Russian civilization.

He added, “Our common traditions, unique customs, friendship, and good neighborliness remain under threat.”

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