“Good afternoon, my dear Friend, Badma! I have read your letter. Thank you very much for your special sympathy for Vietnam. I am an energetic person to concretize our high desires for our beloved homeland. Perseverance, determination and resolution are the keys to my success!

I wish you health, success and happiness!”
Editors’ note. Ilyumzhinov said in an interview: “My father wanted to call me Kirsan in honour of his uncle Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the hero of the Civil War. My grandmother preferred the name Badma in honour of her father. But in the Kalmyk family the man has the final say, and so they called me Kirsan. Due to female obstinacy, my grandmother called me Badma, and until the first grade I responded to this name. ”
Friends still call Kirsan Nikolaevich by this name. It means lotus.