Talking to the Vietnam News Agency (VNA)'s correspondent in Russia on the occasion of the 136th birth anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh (May 19, 1890 – 2026) and the 115th anniversary of his departure to seek a path for national salvation, Dr Sokolov reflected on the formative years that shaped Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary outlook and his vision of a free Vietnam.

He noted that to understand why the young man named Nguyen Tat Thanh, who later became beloved President Ho Chi Minh of the Vietnamese people, chose to travel to Europe, it is important to recall the failure of earlier patriotic movements such as 'Dong Du' (Go to the East movement). Learning from previous generations of Vietnamese revolutionaries, the young patriot came to realise that it was essential to study how people in other nations lived and how they improved their societies.

This conviction led him to travel across continents, including Africa and the Americas, before arriving in France, where he interacted with other Vietnamese revolutionaries in exile. There, he began writing for newspapers and later joined communist organisations. Influenced by fellow activists, he decided to travel to the Soviet Union, where the socialist revolution had already succeeded, in order to witness its achievements and understand how it sought to liberate oppressed peoples.

In 1923, Ho Chi Minh arrived in Petrograd (now Saint Petersburg), marking the beginning of an active period of political engagement in the Soviet Union. It was during this time, Dr Sokolov said, that he began to shape his vision of a future Vietnam—one that would be free, just, and equal.

The Russian scholar emphasised that Ho Chi Minh’s years in the Soviet Union provided him with essential experience in organising the masses and conducting political work for revolutionary purposes. This knowledge proved crucial when he later successfully led the August Revolution in 1945, establishing the Democratic Republic of Vietnam - the first people’s democratic state in Southeast Asia - without relying on external assistance. The victory became a powerful inspiration for national liberation movements across colonised countries worldwide, he added

Dr Sokolov also highlighted President Ho Chi Minh’s pioneering role in connecting Vietnam with the Soviet Union. Thanks to his efforts, dozens of Vietnamese revolutionaries were trained in the Soviet Union, including prominent figures such as Tran Phu, Le Hong Phong, and Nguyen Thi Minh Khai.

According to the expert, Russian scholars take pride in the fact that the Soviet Union served as a cradle for training Vietnam’s early political elite, who later played a decisive role in building a new, independent, and just Vietnam governed by its own people.

Reflecting on Ho Chi Minh’s legacy, Dr Sokolov described him as a great humanist whose entire life was imbued with humanitarian ideals.

The Russian expert particularly stressed President Ho Chi Minh’s strong emphasis on education, noting that one of the first decrees of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam was the campaign to eradicate illiteracy. This, Dr Sokolov said, reflected the leader’s belief that an educated population is essential for building a fair, normal, and happy society.

For Ho Chi Minh, the concerns for humans and people’s lives were the most important, making humanism the most fundamental and enduring feature of President Ho Chi Minh thought, Dr Sokolov concluded./.