The deputy secretary of Russia's Security Council has said that the Sambo martial art strengthens Russia's unity.
Rashid Nurgaliyev told journalists in Russia's Siberian city of Novosibirsk on October 21 that the popularization of the sport around the world also helps promote Russian culture and language abroad.
That’s because Sambo is "primordially Russia's wrestling" and its regulations are in Russian, Nurgaliyev said.
Sambo is a Russian acronym that stands for "self-defense without weapons."
"That means we are a peaceful country bringing peace to all the countries of the world," according to Nurgaliyev.
Meanwhile, Russian Sambo Federation President Sergei Yeliseyev said the development of the martial art would be "a response to Western sanctions" imposed against Russia over its actions in Ukraine.
Sambo was developed in the Soviet Union.
Its main founder, Vasily Oshchepkov, died in prison as a result of dictator Josef Stalin's purge campaign in the 1930s after being accused of being a Japanese spy.
