Russian Ambassador to China Andrei Denisov presents a medal on Wednesday to Qu Duyi(C), a Chinese veteran who worked in the former Soviet Union, at a ceremony in Beijing marking the 70th anniversary of victory in the Great Patriotic War (1941-45). FENG YONGBIN / CHINA DAILY

"I stayed in Russia for 13 years and graduated from a Russian college," said Chen. "In 1940, I came to the Soviet Union. One year later, the Germans attacked the Soviet Union.

I went through the events that followed with the Russian people. We were tested together by the war."