Ho Chi Minh’s six-month stay in Russia was important, not only to his revolutionary career, but to Vietnam’s national liberation.

Ho Chi Minh found the answer to his search for a national liberation path when he read the “First draft of theses on national and colonial questions” by V.I.Lenin printed in L’Humanite newspaper on July 16 and 17, 1920. Lenin pointed out national liberation paths for colonial and underdeveloped countries.

Professor Vladimir Kolotov, director of the Ho Chi Minh Institute at St Petersburg University, said, “When Ho Chi Minh arrived in Russia, he learned Marxism-Leninism’s revolutionary theory and ideology, national construction path, and Party building, as well as the most important revolutionary periods - the general uprising to seize power. Ho Chi Minh’s visit to Russia in 1923 was crucial for Vietnam’s revolution.”

Dr. Evgeny Kobelev at the launching ceremony of the book “Memories of 65 years with Vietnam” in December, 2022 (Photo: VOV)

Dr. Evgeny Kobelev of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of China and Modern Asia, said, “Ho Chi Minh made full use of his time in Russia and learned a lot, especially about Russia’s October Revolution.”

After that trip Ho Chi Minh returned to the Soviet Union to study and work in the international communist movement. Since then he fine-tuned the theoretical and practical basis and determined the right path to steer the Vietnamese revolution to complete victory.