MOSCOW, April 26 (RIA Novosti) - During a meeting between war veterans and journalists at RIA Novosti, Army General Filipp Bobkov said that the veterans “defended not only our state, we also saved our people from extermination.”

The general reminded the journalists that the Barbarossa plan envisioned the elimination of 30 million Slavs during the first year of war and total annihilation of such ethnic groups as Ukrainians and Estonians.

He also mentioned that Hitler planned to arrange the occupied territories in such a way that the centers of new cities would have palaces of German elite encircled by a zone of German villages, and the zones 30-40 kilometers from the center would be inhabited by a “work force” – the Slav population.

“Hitler stated that the population of occupied territories should only know how to count and sign documents,” Bobkov said.

“Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) were to have been razed from the face of the Earth and their locations flooded,” the general added.

Germans also planned to erect a monument to German victors of the Moscow battle and captors of Moscow.

“Building № 9 on Tverskaya Street near the Central Telegraph is covered with red marble up to the second floor,” Bobkov said.

This marble, he said, was supposed to be used in construction of the German monument commemorating the capture of Moscow.

The general supported the idea of awarding the city of Rzhev with the title “City of Military Glory,” stating that the fierce fighting near Rzhev played an important role in the defense of Moscow and the victory near Stalingrad.

“Rzhev played a crucial role in the Battle of Stalingrad because Germans were not able to transfer units fighting near Rzhev to reinforce German troops near Stalingrad,” Bobkov underlined.

“Battles near Rzhev continued for two years, and the city changed hands several times. The fighting near Rzhev prevented the Germans from starting the advance on Moscow in planned time. Many Soviet and German soldiers died on battlefields near the city,” the general said.