No, comrades, this empty gossip must stop. It was not traitors who surrendered Poltava, but your own disorderliness. We must now begin to drive this disorderliness out of every corner where it exists, and where necessary take a red-hot iron to it. No trace of impunity for misconduct must be allowed to remain. Every Red Army soldier will answer to the Soviet Republic for every step he takes.
War is a serious business.
It does not tolerate thoughtlessness, idle chatter and slovenly behaviour. Commanders and commissars will answer for their regiments with their own heads. Communists must be in the forefront of battle. The Ukrainian revolutionary soldier is a splendid warrior. All he needs is order.