🇷🇺🇹🇷 On April 18, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov, at the invitation of Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye Hakan Fidan, took part in the Fifth Antalya Diplomatic Forum.
During a bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the event with Hakan Fidan, the two Ministers thoroughly discussed key aspects of the international and regional agenda, including the situation in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East.
The mutual commitment of Russia and Türkiye to further constructive cooperation aimed at finding effective solutions for resolving crisis situations was reaffirmed.
An exchange of views was held on current political issues of the Russian-Turkish dialogue, and the main objectives of trade, economic, and energy cooperation were discussed.
The schedule of upcoming contacts was outlined.
#RussiaTürkiye
During a bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the event with Hakan Fidan, the two Ministers thoroughly discussed key aspects of the international and regional agenda, including the situation in the Persian Gulf and the Middle East.
The mutual commitment of Russia and Türkiye to further constructive cooperation aimed at finding effective solutions for resolving crisis situations was reaffirmed.
An exchange of views was held on current political issues of the Russian-Turkish dialogue, and the main objectives of trade, economic, and energy cooperation were discussed.
The schedule of upcoming contacts was outlined.
#RussiaTürkiye
🇷🇺🇷🇼 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda Olivier Nduhungirehe held a meeting
📍 Antalya, April 18
#RussiaRwanda
📍 Antalya, April 18
#RussiaRwanda
🤝 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity of Libya Abdul Hamid Dbeibah hold a meeting
📍 Antalya, April 18
#RussiaLibya
📍 Antalya, April 18
#RussiaLibya
🇷🇺🇩🇿 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and State Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs, National Community Abroad and African Affairs of Algeria Ahmed Attaf hold a meeting
📍 Antalya, April 18
#RussiaAlgeria
📍 Antalya, April 18
#RussiaAlgeria
🇷🇺🇷🇼 On April 18, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a meeting on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Rwanda Olivier Nduhungirehe.
The Ministers reaffirmed their mutual commitment to steadily develop bilateral cooperation and discussed current issues of enhancing traditionally friendly Russia-Rwanda relations with a focus on expanding trade, economic and humanitarian ties including cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy, education and personnel training.
FMs expressed shared readiness to further interaction in international affairs, including at the UN and in other multilateral venues to resolve global and regional issues.
#RussiaRwanda
The Ministers reaffirmed their mutual commitment to steadily develop bilateral cooperation and discussed current issues of enhancing traditionally friendly Russia-Rwanda relations with a focus on expanding trade, economic and humanitarian ties including cooperation in peaceful use of nuclear energy, education and personnel training.
FMs expressed shared readiness to further interaction in international affairs, including at the UN and in other multilateral venues to resolve global and regional issues.
#RussiaRwanda
🗓 On April 18, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a meeting on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum with Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity of Libya Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.
During the exchange of opinions on the current situation in Libya, the Russian Side underscored its invariable commitment to further assistance to a comprehensive and stable normalisation of the situation in that country. The Ministers noted the importance of ensuring an inclusive national dialogue intended to preserve the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of the Libyan state.
The Parties considered in detail the priority tasks of developing traditionally friendly Russian-Libyan relations and expressed their mutual interest in strengthening and expanding trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian interaction.
#RussiaLibya
During the exchange of opinions on the current situation in Libya, the Russian Side underscored its invariable commitment to further assistance to a comprehensive and stable normalisation of the situation in that country. The Ministers noted the importance of ensuring an inclusive national dialogue intended to preserve the territorial integrity, unity and sovereignty of the Libyan state.
The Parties considered in detail the priority tasks of developing traditionally friendly Russian-Libyan relations and expressed their mutual interest in strengthening and expanding trade, economic, cultural and humanitarian interaction.
#RussiaLibya
🕯Islamabad Hosts Exhibition Marking the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People during the Great Patriotic War
On April 17, the Embassy of Russia in Pakistan held an official opening ceremony for a photo exhibition dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People, perpetrated by the Nazis and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
The event brought together Ambassadors of the CIS countries – Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan; heads of diplomatic missions of friendly states – Cuba, Iran, Kenya, Rwanda, Syria and Zimbabwe; as well as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan and the Embassies of Kazakhstan, Egypt, and other countries.
Russian compatriots residing in Pakistan and members of the Pakistani academic community also attended the event.
💬 Addressing the guests, Ambassador Albert P. Khorev noted that the Nazi Germany's attack on the USSR in 1941, which marked the beginning of the bloodiest war in history, was aimed at seizing Soviet territories and resources, as well as destroying a significant portion of its population.
❗️The Ambassador placed particular emphasis on the scale of crimes against civilians: of the 27 million lives lost, around 14 million were victims of a deliberate policy of extermination through mass executions and torture in concentration camps.
Ambassador Khorev also shared a personal account of his great-grandmother's forced deportation to Germany for slave labor—a tragedy that affected millions of Soviet families during the war.
❗️It was further noted that the decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin to designate April 19 as the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People is based, inter alia, in the verdict of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal of October 1, 1946, which underscored the systematic nature of Nazi crimes.
In concluding his remarks, the Ambassador stressed the importance of preserving historical memory and preventing any distortion of the events of the Great Patriotic War, reaffirming Russia's committment to countering manifestations of neo-Nazism in Europe and Ukraine.
🇵🇰 During the event, Dr. Gul-i-Ayesha Bhatti, Director of CAPES Eurasian Chapter, also addressed the audience, highlighting that the immense sacrifices and unparalleled heroism of the Soviet people during World War II enabled the free and independent development of Europe.
🕯The ceremony concluded with participants lighting candles in memory of Soviet citizens who perished at the hands of the Nazis, followed by a minute of silence.
The photo exhibition, featuring archival materials on the genocide of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War, will remain open to visitors at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts until April 19.
The Embassy expresses its sincere gratitude to the leadership of the Victory Museum and the State Historical Museum for providing the exhibition materials.
#NoStatuteOfLimitations
On April 17, the Embassy of Russia in Pakistan held an official opening ceremony for a photo exhibition dedicated to the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People, perpetrated by the Nazis and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
The event brought together Ambassadors of the CIS countries – Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan; heads of diplomatic missions of friendly states – Cuba, Iran, Kenya, Rwanda, Syria and Zimbabwe; as well as representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan and the Embassies of Kazakhstan, Egypt, and other countries.
Russian compatriots residing in Pakistan and members of the Pakistani academic community also attended the event.
💬 Addressing the guests, Ambassador Albert P. Khorev noted that the Nazi Germany's attack on the USSR in 1941, which marked the beginning of the bloodiest war in history, was aimed at seizing Soviet territories and resources, as well as destroying a significant portion of its population.
❗️The Ambassador placed particular emphasis on the scale of crimes against civilians: of the 27 million lives lost, around 14 million were victims of a deliberate policy of extermination through mass executions and torture in concentration camps.
Ambassador Khorev also shared a personal account of his great-grandmother's forced deportation to Germany for slave labor—a tragedy that affected millions of Soviet families during the war.
❗️It was further noted that the decision by Russian President Vladimir Putin to designate April 19 as the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People is based, inter alia, in the verdict of the Nuremberg International Military Tribunal of October 1, 1946, which underscored the systematic nature of Nazi crimes.
In concluding his remarks, the Ambassador stressed the importance of preserving historical memory and preventing any distortion of the events of the Great Patriotic War, reaffirming Russia's committment to countering manifestations of neo-Nazism in Europe and Ukraine.
🇵🇰 During the event, Dr. Gul-i-Ayesha Bhatti, Director of CAPES Eurasian Chapter, also addressed the audience, highlighting that the immense sacrifices and unparalleled heroism of the Soviet people during World War II enabled the free and independent development of Europe.
🕯The ceremony concluded with participants lighting candles in memory of Soviet citizens who perished at the hands of the Nazis, followed by a minute of silence.
The photo exhibition, featuring archival materials on the genocide of the Soviet people during the Great Patriotic War, will remain open to visitors at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts until April 19.
The Embassy expresses its sincere gratitude to the leadership of the Victory Museum and the State Historical Museum for providing the exhibition materials.
#NoStatuteOfLimitations
🇷🇺🇩🇿 On April 18, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a meeting on the sidelines of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum with Minister of State, Minister of Foreign Affairs, the National Community Abroad, and African Affairs of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria Ahmed Attaf.
Their discussion covered practical issues of furthering the relationship of strategic partnership between Russia and Algeria including a schedule of upcoming contacts at different levels. Both sides expressed their satisfaction with a high level of trust-based political dialogue and established interaction in various bilateral and multilateral formats.
The Ministers had a substantive exchange of opinions on current issues on the global and regional agendas with a focus on the developments in the Middle East, Sahara-Sahel and Maghrib. They stressed readiness to continue close coordination to promptly settle the conflict situations politically and diplomatically on the basis of universally accepted principles of international law and the UN Charter.
#RussiaAlgeria
Their discussion covered practical issues of furthering the relationship of strategic partnership between Russia and Algeria including a schedule of upcoming contacts at different levels. Both sides expressed their satisfaction with a high level of trust-based political dialogue and established interaction in various bilateral and multilateral formats.
The Ministers had a substantive exchange of opinions on current issues on the global and regional agendas with a focus on the developments in the Middle East, Sahara-Sahel and Maghrib. They stressed readiness to continue close coordination to promptly settle the conflict situations politically and diplomatically on the basis of universally accepted principles of international law and the UN Charter.
#RussiaAlgeria
🎙 Video address by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the occasion of Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People committed by Nazis and their accomplices during 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War (Moscow, April 19, 2026)
💬 Friends,
This year will be the first time that we mark a mournful date, namely, Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People committed by Nazis and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. This new commemorative day - April 19 - was established in December 2025. Events in memory of the victims of Nazis and the immortal feat of the Soviet people will take place at Russian missions abroad as well.
April 19 was chosen for a reason. On that day in 1943, Decree No. 39 of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet “On measures of punishment for German Nazi perpetrators guilty of killings and torture of Soviet civilian population and captured Red Army soldiers, for spies, traitors to the Motherland from among Soviet citizens, and for their accomplices” was issued.
The decree became the first document to provide a legal qualification of the systematic policy pursued by the Nazis and collaborationists to exterminate the civilian population, and laid the groundwork for bringing them to justice. Among the first trials subsequently organised against German war criminals were the Krasnodar and Kharkov trials. Their outcomes significantly influenced the work of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal.
The evidence presented in the materials of the Nuremberg Tribunal and their legal assessments made it possible to speak of genocide of peoples in the territories occupied by Germany, primarily the territory of the USSR. The enemy was open about it waging a war of extermination against our Fatherland. As early as September 16, 1941, by order of the Chief of Staff of the High Command of the Wehrmacht, General Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, German troops were instructed to show no mercy to civilians. The atrocities reached an unprecedented scale.
▪️ The total number of civilian victims in the USSR during the occupation amounted to around 14 million people.
These crimes have no statute of limitations.
The outcomes of the Nuremberg Tribunal laid the foundation for drafting the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The very term “genocide” gained currency in 1944 to define a policy of obliteration of national, racial, and religious groups.
The facts of genocide in the occupied territories of the former USSR have been confirmed in court in all constituent entities of the Russian Federation where, during the Great Patriotic War, crimes against the civilian population were committed by German Nazis and their accomplices from among those in other countries who stood under Nazi banners. Russian diplomacy will seek recognition by the international community of the crimes committed by the Nazis and their accomplices against citizens of the Soviet Union as genocide of the Soviet people. The qualification to this end has been enshrined in a number of documents adopted within the CIS and the CSTO.
In Russia, rehabilitation of Nazism, including actions that desecrate the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Genocide, has been criminalised.
We will continue to resolutely defend historical truth and counter attempts to whitewash Nazi criminals and their acolytes, and to revise the internationally recognised outcomes of the Second World War. The majority of states stand in solidarity with us. There is clear broad support for Russian thematic initiatives, primarily at the UN, where Russian draft resolutions on combatting the glorification of Nazism are adopted annually.
Preserving the memory of millions of victims of the genocide of the Soviet people is our sacred duty.
We will not allow these atrocities to be consigned to oblivion, no matter how hard those who today seek once again to steer Europe down the well-trodden path of racial superiority may try.
💬 Friends,
This year will be the first time that we mark a mournful date, namely, Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People committed by Nazis and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. This new commemorative day - April 19 - was established in December 2025. Events in memory of the victims of Nazis and the immortal feat of the Soviet people will take place at Russian missions abroad as well.
April 19 was chosen for a reason. On that day in 1943, Decree No. 39 of the Presidium of the USSR Supreme Soviet “On measures of punishment for German Nazi perpetrators guilty of killings and torture of Soviet civilian population and captured Red Army soldiers, for spies, traitors to the Motherland from among Soviet citizens, and for their accomplices” was issued.
The decree became the first document to provide a legal qualification of the systematic policy pursued by the Nazis and collaborationists to exterminate the civilian population, and laid the groundwork for bringing them to justice. Among the first trials subsequently organised against German war criminals were the Krasnodar and Kharkov trials. Their outcomes significantly influenced the work of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal.
The evidence presented in the materials of the Nuremberg Tribunal and their legal assessments made it possible to speak of genocide of peoples in the territories occupied by Germany, primarily the territory of the USSR. The enemy was open about it waging a war of extermination against our Fatherland. As early as September 16, 1941, by order of the Chief of Staff of the High Command of the Wehrmacht, General Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, German troops were instructed to show no mercy to civilians. The atrocities reached an unprecedented scale.
▪️ The total number of civilian victims in the USSR during the occupation amounted to around 14 million people.
These crimes have no statute of limitations.
The outcomes of the Nuremberg Tribunal laid the foundation for drafting the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. The very term “genocide” gained currency in 1944 to define a policy of obliteration of national, racial, and religious groups.
The facts of genocide in the occupied territories of the former USSR have been confirmed in court in all constituent entities of the Russian Federation where, during the Great Patriotic War, crimes against the civilian population were committed by German Nazis and their accomplices from among those in other countries who stood under Nazi banners. Russian diplomacy will seek recognition by the international community of the crimes committed by the Nazis and their accomplices against citizens of the Soviet Union as genocide of the Soviet people. The qualification to this end has been enshrined in a number of documents adopted within the CIS and the CSTO.
In Russia, rehabilitation of Nazism, including actions that desecrate the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Genocide, has been criminalised.
We will continue to resolutely defend historical truth and counter attempts to whitewash Nazi criminals and their acolytes, and to revise the internationally recognised outcomes of the Second World War. The majority of states stand in solidarity with us. There is clear broad support for Russian thematic initiatives, primarily at the UN, where Russian draft resolutions on combatting the glorification of Nazism are adopted annually.
Preserving the memory of millions of victims of the genocide of the Soviet people is our sacred duty.
We will not allow these atrocities to be consigned to oblivion, no matter how hard those who today seek once again to steer Europe down the well-trodden path of racial superiority may try.
◼️ Today our country marks for the first time Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People, perpetrated by the Nazis and their collaborators during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
It was established b the Executive Order of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin of December 29, 2025, and the basic details of commemorating the genocide victims were determined by Federal Law No. 74-FZ. The date of 19 April was not chosen by chance. On this day in 1943, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued its Decree No. 39
#NoStatuteOfLimitations
The genocide of the Soviet people means the actions committed in 1941-45 with the intention of destroying, in whole or in part, ethnic, racial and national groups that inhabited the USSR.
The top echelon of Nazi Germany regarded the territory of the Soviet Union up to the Urals as its Lebensraum, which historically was intended to be settled with representatives of the Aryan race and, therefore to be cleansed from those, whom the Hitlerite elite labeled as “subhumans”: Slavs, Jews, Gypsies and Asians.
With these purposes in view, even before invading the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany planned a system of extermination practices to radically reduce the Soviet population as early as during the war.
The orchestrated famine strategy was an important part of the Nazi genocide programme (https://t.me/MID_Russia/77695) that was to lead to the death of 30 million Soviet citizens as early as in the winter of 1941-42.
▪️ Although it has not been implemented in full, it still caused enormous victims, including: among those who died were over three million Soviet prisoners of war, about a million of residents in the besieged Leningrad, a great number of civilian population starving in the occupied areas, women and children forcefully imprisoned in the Nazi transfer camps.
▪️ Jews and Gypsies were subject to total extermination.
▪️ Soviet female labourers (Ostarbeiter) were subject to forced abortions.
▪️ Soviet children having signs of Aryan origin were kidnapped in the occupied territories for subsequent Germanisation, which also constitutes a conventional form of genocide.
From the very beginning of the war, the Nazis developed the so-called General Plan ‘Ost’ with the aim of colonising the occupied territories. Under the plan, millions of Germans were to be resettled in the conquered lands. New, German towns and villages were to be built for them.
***
A horrifying estimate of 13.7 million people fell victim to the Hitler’s policy of destroying “subnormal” as he thought Soviet people, with another five million citizens to a willfully implemented famine strategy.
The facts of genocide in the occupied lands of former USSR have been confirmed judicially in all the constituent entities of Russia, where Nazis and their collaborators committed crimes against civilian population during the Great Patriotic War.
❗️ Russia’s diplomatic service will seek to ensure that the crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators against the citizens of the Soviet Union are recognised by the international community as genocide against the Soviet people. The relevant qualification has been recorded in some documents adopted in the CIS and the CSTO.
💬 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the video address on Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People:
For further perusal:
👉 On the Nazi's genocide of millions of Soviet citizens
👉 Archival documents on heinous Nazi crimes in the concentration camps
👉 On the Khatyn' massacre
👉 How the West created and supported Ukrainian Nazi collaborators complicit in the genocide
👉 Section on the genocide of the Soviet people on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website (in Russian)
It was established b the Executive Order of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin of December 29, 2025, and the basic details of commemorating the genocide victims were determined by Federal Law No. 74-FZ. The date of 19 April was not chosen by chance. On this day in 1943, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued its Decree No. 39
#NoStatuteOfLimitations
The genocide of the Soviet people means the actions committed in 1941-45 with the intention of destroying, in whole or in part, ethnic, racial and national groups that inhabited the USSR.
The top echelon of Nazi Germany regarded the territory of the Soviet Union up to the Urals as its Lebensraum, which historically was intended to be settled with representatives of the Aryan race and, therefore to be cleansed from those, whom the Hitlerite elite labeled as “subhumans”: Slavs, Jews, Gypsies and Asians.
With these purposes in view, even before invading the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany planned a system of extermination practices to radically reduce the Soviet population as early as during the war.
The orchestrated famine strategy was an important part of the Nazi genocide programme (https://t.me/MID_Russia/77695) that was to lead to the death of 30 million Soviet citizens as early as in the winter of 1941-42.
▪️ Although it has not been implemented in full, it still caused enormous victims, including: among those who died were over three million Soviet prisoners of war, about a million of residents in the besieged Leningrad, a great number of civilian population starving in the occupied areas, women and children forcefully imprisoned in the Nazi transfer camps.
▪️ Jews and Gypsies were subject to total extermination.
▪️ Soviet female labourers (Ostarbeiter) were subject to forced abortions.
▪️ Soviet children having signs of Aryan origin were kidnapped in the occupied territories for subsequent Germanisation, which also constitutes a conventional form of genocide.
From the very beginning of the war, the Nazis developed the so-called General Plan ‘Ost’ with the aim of colonising the occupied territories. Under the plan, millions of Germans were to be resettled in the conquered lands. New, German towns and villages were to be built for them.
***
A horrifying estimate of 13.7 million people fell victim to the Hitler’s policy of destroying “subnormal” as he thought Soviet people, with another five million citizens to a willfully implemented famine strategy.
The facts of genocide in the occupied lands of former USSR have been confirmed judicially in all the constituent entities of Russia, where Nazis and their collaborators committed crimes against civilian population during the Great Patriotic War.
❗️ Russia’s diplomatic service will seek to ensure that the crimes committed by the Nazis and their collaborators against the citizens of the Soviet Union are recognised by the international community as genocide against the Soviet people. The relevant qualification has been recorded in some documents adopted in the CIS and the CSTO.
💬 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the video address on Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People:
Preserving the memory of the millions of victims of the genocide of the Soviet people is our sacred duty. We will not allow those atrocities to be lost to oblivion, no matter how hard those who today seek once again to push Europe down the well-trodden path of racial superiority may try.
For further perusal:
👉 On the Nazi's genocide of millions of Soviet citizens
👉 Archival documents on heinous Nazi crimes in the concentration camps
👉 On the Khatyn' massacre
👉 How the West created and supported Ukrainian Nazi collaborators complicit in the genocide
👉 Section on the genocide of the Soviet people on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website (in Russian)
🗓 On April 19, 1783, Russia's Empress Catherine II the Great signed the Imperial Manifesto on the Accession of Crimea, Taman and Kuban into the Russian Empire. In accordance with Federal Law No. 336-FZ of August 3, 2018, this day was declared a commemorative date in Russian history.
Russia’s victory in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 brought an end to Ottoman rule in the northern parts of the Black Sea region, as enshrined in the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. By 1783, Crimea, Taman and the right bank of the Kuban River had become part of the Russian Empire.
📜 In the Manifesto, the Empress assured her new subjects:
The accession of Crimea to Russia gave a powerful impetus to the region’s development: the economy, trade and culture grew rapidly, and the cultivation of vast fertile lands began. In a very short time, new cities and ports emerged on the Black Sea steppe, and the Russian fleet firmly established itself in the Black Sea, securing our southern borders and opening up new opportunities for the country’s development.
Prince Grigory Potemkin, appointed Governor-General of Novorossiya by Catherine II, played a key role in the incorporation and development of the Crimean Peninsula. In June 1783, on the flat summit of Mount Ak-Kaya, he accepted the oath of allegiance to Russia from the Crimean nobility and representatives of all segments of the Crimean population.
On December 28, 1783, Sultan Abdul Hamid I of the Ottoman Empire formally recognised Russia’s authority over Crimea in writing. That was a remarkable diplomatic achievement for Russian Ambassador Yakov Bulgakov. “Your firmness, energy and intelligence have averted war,” Prince Potemkin wrote to Bulgakov. The Sublime Porte could not forgive that: from 1787 to 1789, the Russian diplomat was imprisoned in the Yedikule Fortress.
The outcome of the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1791 and the Treaty of Jassy sealed the deal: Crimea is Russia.
💬 From a briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:
At the same time, Crimea’s incorporation into the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great had deep historical roots. As early as the second half of the 10th century, the eastern part of the peninsula became part of the Tmutarakan Principality, thus becoming part of Ancient Rus.
Ties were strengthened after Grand Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich’s successful campaign in 988 against the Byzantine city of Korsun (Tauric Chersonesos). It was there that he was baptised, defining the historical path of our Fatherland.
Several centuries later, in 1783, Crimea rejoined the Russian Empire – and in 2014, following a Crimean referendum, it finally returned “to its native harbour,” becoming an integral part of the Russian Federation. The peninsula’s return was a logical continuation of the shared historical journey of Crimea and Russia – a journey spanning over a thousand years.
Russia’s victory in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768-1774 brought an end to Ottoman rule in the northern parts of the Black Sea region, as enshrined in the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca. By 1783, Crimea, Taman and the right bank of the Kuban River had become part of the Russian Empire.
📜 In the Manifesto, the Empress assured her new subjects:
“...We promise, sacredly and unwaveringly, for ourselves and the successors to our throne, to maintain them on an equal footing with our natural subjects, to protect and defend their persons, property, churches and their native faith, the free practice of which, with all lawful rites, shall remain inviolable; and to grant them, ultimately, all the rights and privileges enjoyed by those in Russia...”
The accession of Crimea to Russia gave a powerful impetus to the region’s development: the economy, trade and culture grew rapidly, and the cultivation of vast fertile lands began. In a very short time, new cities and ports emerged on the Black Sea steppe, and the Russian fleet firmly established itself in the Black Sea, securing our southern borders and opening up new opportunities for the country’s development.
Prince Grigory Potemkin, appointed Governor-General of Novorossiya by Catherine II, played a key role in the incorporation and development of the Crimean Peninsula. In June 1783, on the flat summit of Mount Ak-Kaya, he accepted the oath of allegiance to Russia from the Crimean nobility and representatives of all segments of the Crimean population.
On December 28, 1783, Sultan Abdul Hamid I of the Ottoman Empire formally recognised Russia’s authority over Crimea in writing. That was a remarkable diplomatic achievement for Russian Ambassador Yakov Bulgakov. “Your firmness, energy and intelligence have averted war,” Prince Potemkin wrote to Bulgakov. The Sublime Porte could not forgive that: from 1787 to 1789, the Russian diplomat was imprisoned in the Yedikule Fortress.
The outcome of the Russo-Turkish War of 1787-1791 and the Treaty of Jassy sealed the deal: Crimea is Russia.
💬 From a briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:
“The Manifesto represented the logical culmination of our country’s centuries-long struggle for the return of primordially Russian lands, ensured the security of its frontiers, and cemented the legitimate incorporation of the Crimean Peninsula and other territories into Russia.”
At the same time, Crimea’s incorporation into the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great had deep historical roots. As early as the second half of the 10th century, the eastern part of the peninsula became part of the Tmutarakan Principality, thus becoming part of Ancient Rus.
Ties were strengthened after Grand Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich’s successful campaign in 988 against the Byzantine city of Korsun (Tauric Chersonesos). It was there that he was baptised, defining the historical path of our Fatherland.
Several centuries later, in 1783, Crimea rejoined the Russian Empire – and in 2014, following a Crimean referendum, it finally returned “to its native harbour,” becoming an integral part of the Russian Federation. The peninsula’s return was a logical continuation of the shared historical journey of Crimea and Russia – a journey spanning over a thousand years.