MOSCOW, August 13. /TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated World War II veteran Yevgeny Znamensky on his 101st birthday with a personal telegram. Putin commended the veteran's combat path, including the Battle of Stalingrad, the liberation of Europe, and reaching Berlin, and his postwar work for the Motherland.

"A man of special life resilience, a front-line soldier, a courageous and strong-spirited person, you have traversed a glorious combat path," the president wrote.

Znamensky was born August 13, 1925, in Serpukhov. He participated in the defense of Moscow before being drafted into the Red Army in early 1943. He fought on the Steppe, Don, and 1st Belorussian fronts, crossing the Don, Donets, Vistula, Oder, and Spree rivers. He ended the war in Berlin on May 2, 1945, signing the Reichstag wall. He was wounded and shell-shocked twice.