Today we celebrate the 240th anniversary of the glorious and heroic Russian city of Sevastopol.
🗓 The city of Sevastopol was founded on June 14, 1783 under the leadership of Rear Admiral Thomas MacKenzie, ℹ️ However, in fairness, one cannot fail to mention Alexander Suvorov in this regard. Five years earlier, by his order, the first ground works were built and Russian troops were deployed on the shores of the present-day Sevastopol Bay.
ℹ️ Originally the settlement was called Akhtiar. The city received its modern name on February 21, 1784. On that day, Catherine II issued a decree ordering Grigory Potemkin to build a large fortress in its place and call it Sevastopol (that is, the sacred city). The city was built with funds received by Potemkin from Novorossiysk lands. Administratively, Sevastopol became part of the Tauride region, formed as part of the Yekaterinoslav governorship, the center of which was Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk).
Sevastopol became a stronghold of the Black Sea Fleet, a city of glory for Russian naval sailors. Nowadays, the main naval base of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation is located in Sevastopol.
Implementation of the initial scheme for the construction of the city was undertaken by Admiral Fyodor Ushakov, who was appointed in 1788 as the commander of the port and the Sevastopol squadron.
Upon ascending to the throne in 1797, Emperor Paul I took many actions just to spite his mother Catherine the Great, including renaming the fortress city to Akhtiar. However, in 1826, under Nicholas I, the city was returned its former Greek name, Sevastopol, by Senate decree.
In 1853, Turkey declared war on Russia, and a few months later England and France entered into a military alliance with Turkey, as they did not want Russia to strengthen its dominance in the Black Sea. During the Crimean War, Sevastopol underwent a prolonged siege (349 days) and was abandoned by the defenders after the enemy took the key height, Malakhov Mound. The war was followed by a 20-year period of decline for Sevastopol, since under the terms of the peace treaty signed in 1856, Russia was prohibited from having a navy in the Black Sea.
The restoration of the fleet began in 1870, and by the First World War there were up to 400 combat, auxiliary and transport ships in Sevastopol.
During the Soviet period, despite the aftermath of the Civil War, the city developed rapidly, and its population doubled over 20 years. By the beginning of 1941, 112,000 people lived in the city.
Sevastopol had become a powerful naval base, but the Great Patriotic War tested the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet and ordinary Sevastopol residents unlike anything that came before. The heroic defense of Sevastopol lasted 250 days, with Soviet troops withdrawing from the city only after exhausting all defensive resources. On May 9, 1944, the city was liberated after being almost completely destroyed by the Nazis.
❗️ On March 6, 2014, the decision was made at an extraordinary session of the Sevastopol City Council to rejoin the Russian Federation and support the decision of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to hold an all-Crimea referendum in which the city would take part.
On March 16, 96.77% of voters on the peninsula voted for reunification with Russia in the referendum. In Sevastopol, the number was 95.6%.
On March 18, 2014, an agreement was signed on the accession of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol into the Russian Federation as constituent entities.
🗓 The city of Sevastopol was founded on June 14, 1783 under the leadership of Rear Admiral Thomas MacKenzie, ℹ️ However, in fairness, one cannot fail to mention Alexander Suvorov in this regard. Five years earlier, by his order, the first ground works were built and Russian troops were deployed on the shores of the present-day Sevastopol Bay.
ℹ️ Originally the settlement was called Akhtiar. The city received its modern name on February 21, 1784. On that day, Catherine II issued a decree ordering Grigory Potemkin to build a large fortress in its place and call it Sevastopol (that is, the sacred city). The city was built with funds received by Potemkin from Novorossiysk lands. Administratively, Sevastopol became part of the Tauride region, formed as part of the Yekaterinoslav governorship, the center of which was Yekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk).
Sevastopol became a stronghold of the Black Sea Fleet, a city of glory for Russian naval sailors. Nowadays, the main naval base of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation is located in Sevastopol.
Implementation of the initial scheme for the construction of the city was undertaken by Admiral Fyodor Ushakov, who was appointed in 1788 as the commander of the port and the Sevastopol squadron.
Upon ascending to the throne in 1797, Emperor Paul I took many actions just to spite his mother Catherine the Great, including renaming the fortress city to Akhtiar. However, in 1826, under Nicholas I, the city was returned its former Greek name, Sevastopol, by Senate decree.
In 1853, Turkey declared war on Russia, and a few months later England and France entered into a military alliance with Turkey, as they did not want Russia to strengthen its dominance in the Black Sea. During the Crimean War, Sevastopol underwent a prolonged siege (349 days) and was abandoned by the defenders after the enemy took the key height, Malakhov Mound. The war was followed by a 20-year period of decline for Sevastopol, since under the terms of the peace treaty signed in 1856, Russia was prohibited from having a navy in the Black Sea.
The restoration of the fleet began in 1870, and by the First World War there were up to 400 combat, auxiliary and transport ships in Sevastopol.
During the Soviet period, despite the aftermath of the Civil War, the city developed rapidly, and its population doubled over 20 years. By the beginning of 1941, 112,000 people lived in the city.
Sevastopol had become a powerful naval base, but the Great Patriotic War tested the sailors of the Black Sea Fleet and ordinary Sevastopol residents unlike anything that came before. The heroic defense of Sevastopol lasted 250 days, with Soviet troops withdrawing from the city only after exhausting all defensive resources. On May 9, 1944, the city was liberated after being almost completely destroyed by the Nazis.
❗️ On March 6, 2014, the decision was made at an extraordinary session of the Sevastopol City Council to rejoin the Russian Federation and support the decision of the Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea to hold an all-Crimea referendum in which the city would take part.
On March 16, 96.77% of voters on the peninsula voted for reunification with Russia in the referendum. In Sevastopol, the number was 95.6%.
On March 18, 2014, an agreement was signed on the accession of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol into the Russian Federation as constituent entities.
Forwarded from Russian Mission to ASEAN
🗓On June 14, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Andrey Rudenko 🇷🇺 participated in the ASEAN Regional Forum Senior Officials' Meeting (#ARF SOM) held online under Indonesian Chairmanship 🇮🇩.
🔹Senior officials discussed the progress achieved so far and issues related to preparation for the upcoming ARF Foreign Ministers' Meeting in July in Jakarta, Indonesia 🇮🇩.
🇷🇺 As part of the exchange of views on topical issues in the Asia-Pacific, Russian delegation voiced its approach towards the military-political risks associated with building up a network of minilateral blocs in the region and bringing NATO potential to the East Asia.
☝️ Russia reiterated its position on the maintaining and strengthening the central role of #ASEAN in regional affairs based on ASEAN-led platforms of multilateral cooperation.
🔹Senior officials discussed the progress achieved so far and issues related to preparation for the upcoming ARF Foreign Ministers' Meeting in July in Jakarta, Indonesia 🇮🇩.
🇷🇺 As part of the exchange of views on topical issues in the Asia-Pacific, Russian delegation voiced its approach towards the military-political risks associated with building up a network of minilateral blocs in the region and bringing NATO potential to the East Asia.
☝️ Russia reiterated its position on the maintaining and strengthening the central role of #ASEAN in regional affairs based on ASEAN-led platforms of multilateral cooperation.
Russian Foreign Ministry’s report on the human rights situation in certain countries
The latest report on the human rights situation in certain countries was published on the Foreign Ministry website on June 7, 2023. These “certain countries” traditionally include the self-proclaimed “exemplary” Western democracies that granted themselves the right to “export” their own human rights standards as universal. At one time they decided they had the privilege to criticise and lecture the rest of the world and judge other governments’ domestic and foreign policies. Nobody could stop them before, but now, times are changing.
All in all, human rights have become a matter of speculation to serve momentary opportunistic needs, an instrument of presumptuous and unrestricted interference with the domestic affairs of sovereign states and, most crucially, an instrument inflating confrontation. The principle of universality, indivisibility and interdependence of human rights is suddenly forgotten. The West declared freedom of opinion and of expressing an opinion, the notorious freedom of speech, an absolute right. Exercising this right now serves to justify certain officials’ lack of action when it comes to a wide scope of manifestations of intolerance, racism, discrimination and, finally, glorification of Nazism and neo-Nazism. As a consequence, we are witnessing radical nationalists pervasively raising their heads in countries that went through the horrors of probably the bloodiest war in human history, World War II, and intensifying attempts to break down societies on ethnic and language grounds. Unfortunately, this is becoming a global problem.
We should specifically mention the efforts of the Western countries and their allies to rewrite the history of World War II and revise its outcome, along with cynical attempts to exonerate war criminals and their henchmen. We are seeing a distortion of historical facts, attacks on culture and traditional values, war against monuments and memorials, and persecution of religious organisations. All this is happening despite the mechanisms developed by international bodies to condemn and prevent the idea of supremacy of one group of people over another. Today, nobody is hiding the fact that, from the perspective of the European Union, NATO, Washington and London, there is a “golden billion” while others exist to serve it.
Nevertheless, representatives of the Western political elite remain hostage to colonial and neocolonial mindsets, which was recently clearly illustrated by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell’s meme-worthy statement when he divided the world into a beautiful garden and jungles. Attempts to impose a rules-based order, as opposed to international law, is in line with this mindset. Now they are trying to backtrack by saying that the rules-based international order is, in fact, international law. If the international order promoted by the West is indeed international law, then leave it be and don’t make up new terms for it. If you create a new term, then it refers to something different from what international law means.
Today all these manifestations are clearly visible. The events of 2022 demonstrated that the West used duplicitous approaches with the sole goal of causing as much damage as possible – and now deliver a strategic defeat – to Russia and the Russian world. Nobody is hiding this fact anymore. Any means are considered fair. Then again, the history of the 20th century has some very indicative examples to this effect.
We believe that, in the forming new world and more just system of international relations, the principle of genuine respect for the sovereignty, historical, cultural, religious and ethnic characteristics of different countries will be fully realised. There will be no place for colonialism, neocolonialism, racism, racial discrimination and associated intolerance.
The latest report on the human rights situation in certain countries was published on the Foreign Ministry website on June 7, 2023. These “certain countries” traditionally include the self-proclaimed “exemplary” Western democracies that granted themselves the right to “export” their own human rights standards as universal. At one time they decided they had the privilege to criticise and lecture the rest of the world and judge other governments’ domestic and foreign policies. Nobody could stop them before, but now, times are changing.
All in all, human rights have become a matter of speculation to serve momentary opportunistic needs, an instrument of presumptuous and unrestricted interference with the domestic affairs of sovereign states and, most crucially, an instrument inflating confrontation. The principle of universality, indivisibility and interdependence of human rights is suddenly forgotten. The West declared freedom of opinion and of expressing an opinion, the notorious freedom of speech, an absolute right. Exercising this right now serves to justify certain officials’ lack of action when it comes to a wide scope of manifestations of intolerance, racism, discrimination and, finally, glorification of Nazism and neo-Nazism. As a consequence, we are witnessing radical nationalists pervasively raising their heads in countries that went through the horrors of probably the bloodiest war in human history, World War II, and intensifying attempts to break down societies on ethnic and language grounds. Unfortunately, this is becoming a global problem.
We should specifically mention the efforts of the Western countries and their allies to rewrite the history of World War II and revise its outcome, along with cynical attempts to exonerate war criminals and their henchmen. We are seeing a distortion of historical facts, attacks on culture and traditional values, war against monuments and memorials, and persecution of religious organisations. All this is happening despite the mechanisms developed by international bodies to condemn and prevent the idea of supremacy of one group of people over another. Today, nobody is hiding the fact that, from the perspective of the European Union, NATO, Washington and London, there is a “golden billion” while others exist to serve it.
Nevertheless, representatives of the Western political elite remain hostage to colonial and neocolonial mindsets, which was recently clearly illustrated by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell’s meme-worthy statement when he divided the world into a beautiful garden and jungles. Attempts to impose a rules-based order, as opposed to international law, is in line with this mindset. Now they are trying to backtrack by saying that the rules-based international order is, in fact, international law. If the international order promoted by the West is indeed international law, then leave it be and don’t make up new terms for it. If you create a new term, then it refers to something different from what international law means.
Today all these manifestations are clearly visible. The events of 2022 demonstrated that the West used duplicitous approaches with the sole goal of causing as much damage as possible – and now deliver a strategic defeat – to Russia and the Russian world. Nobody is hiding this fact anymore. Any means are considered fair. Then again, the history of the 20th century has some very indicative examples to this effect.
We believe that, in the forming new world and more just system of international relations, the principle of genuine respect for the sovereignty, historical, cultural, religious and ethnic characteristics of different countries will be fully realised. There will be no place for colonialism, neocolonialism, racism, racial discrimination and associated intolerance.
Attempts of specific countries to usurp the system of international law and exploit its universal human rights protection mechanisms for sordid motives will be unacceptable. As will be attempts to privatise the concepts of democracy and freedom – and consider some societies exceptional and others eternally submissive.
The purpose of the research developed by the Russian Foreign Ministry is not to lecture or moralise, unlike similar US or EU publications. This research vies for being considered objective as it is based on the materials from non-government human rights organisations and takes into account recommendations of international, universal and regional mechanisms of human rights protection – specifically, the treaty bodies (committees) of the UN system and regional (especially European) human rights protection institutions. First and foremost, our report summarises facts of human rights violations in specific countries. We leave it to readers, experts and analysts to judge the moral implications.
The Foreign Ministry’s report and a similar study by our Belarusian partners will be presented at an international conference on June 22, held on the sidelines of the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council.
🔗 https://mid.ru/ru/press_service/spokesman/briefings/1886061/?lang=en
The purpose of the research developed by the Russian Foreign Ministry is not to lecture or moralise, unlike similar US or EU publications. This research vies for being considered objective as it is based on the materials from non-government human rights organisations and takes into account recommendations of international, universal and regional mechanisms of human rights protection – specifically, the treaty bodies (committees) of the UN system and regional (especially European) human rights protection institutions. First and foremost, our report summarises facts of human rights violations in specific countries. We leave it to readers, experts and analysts to judge the moral implications.
The Foreign Ministry’s report and a similar study by our Belarusian partners will be presented at an international conference on June 22, held on the sidelines of the 53rd session of the UN Human Rights Council.
🔗 https://mid.ru/ru/press_service/spokesman/briefings/1886061/?lang=en
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🛡 #OTD 22 years ago, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (#SCO) was founded - a multilateral association aimed at ensuring peace, security and stability and jointly countering new security challenges and threats to member states.
Today, the SCO is made up of eight countries: its founding members – Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – as well as India and Pakistan, which joined in 2017. Iran is also expected to become a full SCO member at the upcoming summit (July 3-4, New Delhi).
In June 2002, the organisation's member states signed the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation that cemented the SCO's focus on the positive promotion of multidimensional cooperation and its non-targeting of third countries and organisations. Today the SCO continues to firmly rule out bloc, ideological and confrontational approaches to solving international and regional development problems.
🤝 One of the most important areas of SCO activity is joint efforts to combat terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and transnational organised crime. The SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure operates in Tashkent on a permanent basis to ensure effective cooperation between the competent authorities of the member states in these areas.
🌐 The SCO's legal framework for relations with the United Nations and its agencies continues to expand. Partnerships have been established with the #CIS, #CSTO, #EEC, #ASEAN and a number of other multilateral associations that share similar principles of constructive development.
Today, the SCO is made up of eight countries: its founding members – Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – as well as India and Pakistan, which joined in 2017. Iran is also expected to become a full SCO member at the upcoming summit (July 3-4, New Delhi).
In June 2002, the organisation's member states signed the Treaty on Long-Term Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation that cemented the SCO's focus on the positive promotion of multidimensional cooperation and its non-targeting of third countries and organisations. Today the SCO continues to firmly rule out bloc, ideological and confrontational approaches to solving international and regional development problems.
🤝 One of the most important areas of SCO activity is joint efforts to combat terrorism, extremism, drug trafficking and transnational organised crime. The SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure operates in Tashkent on a permanent basis to ensure effective cooperation between the competent authorities of the member states in these areas.
🌐 The SCO's legal framework for relations with the United Nations and its agencies continues to expand. Partnerships have been established with the #CIS, #CSTO, #EEC, #ASEAN and a number of other multilateral associations that share similar principles of constructive development.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🗓 June 15 marks 225 years since the birth of Alexander #Gorchakov, an outstanding Russian diplomat and public official.
Alexander Gorchakov became Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire in 1856. In this position, he set out on a mission to rewrite the outcomes of the Crimean War by amending the terms of the Paris Treaty and terminating the Black Sea’s neutral status, as well as recovering control over Bessarabia. Prussia supported him in this undertaking by leveraging its growing European influence.
✍️ “Russia has not grown bitter. Russia is focusing itself”. It was Alexander Gorchakov who penned this famous phrase in a circular letter he sent to Russian embassies on August 21, 1856, instructing his ambassadors to submit it to foreign governments.
It was Gorchakov’s diplomatic prowess that prevented Austria’s entry into the Franco-Prussian War and secured Prussia’s victory over France. The fact that France lost it enabled Russia to announce its refusal to abide by the Paris Treaty provisions limiting its sovereignty in the Black Sea and ensure that other countries recognise this move at an international conference in London, held in 1871.
☝️ It was Alexander Gorchakov’s efforts that enabled the Russian Empire to benefit from a favourable foreign policy environment and carry out the reforms it needed so desperately. They laid the groundwork for a tremendous economic leap forward in the last third of the 19th century.
Alexander Gorchakov believed that national interests must always reign supreme in foreign policy, and the Russian diplomacy has been upholding this principle to this day. Alexander Gorchakov remains a role model for his competence, dedication and selfless service to his Motherland.
📖 The Foreign Ministry has launched an online exhibition marking Alexander Gorchakov’s 225th birthday.
Alexander Gorchakov became Foreign Minister of the Russian Empire in 1856. In this position, he set out on a mission to rewrite the outcomes of the Crimean War by amending the terms of the Paris Treaty and terminating the Black Sea’s neutral status, as well as recovering control over Bessarabia. Prussia supported him in this undertaking by leveraging its growing European influence.
✍️ “Russia has not grown bitter. Russia is focusing itself”. It was Alexander Gorchakov who penned this famous phrase in a circular letter he sent to Russian embassies on August 21, 1856, instructing his ambassadors to submit it to foreign governments.
It was Gorchakov’s diplomatic prowess that prevented Austria’s entry into the Franco-Prussian War and secured Prussia’s victory over France. The fact that France lost it enabled Russia to announce its refusal to abide by the Paris Treaty provisions limiting its sovereignty in the Black Sea and ensure that other countries recognise this move at an international conference in London, held in 1871.
☝️ It was Alexander Gorchakov’s efforts that enabled the Russian Empire to benefit from a favourable foreign policy environment and carry out the reforms it needed so desperately. They laid the groundwork for a tremendous economic leap forward in the last third of the 19th century.
Alexander Gorchakov believed that national interests must always reign supreme in foreign policy, and the Russian diplomacy has been upholding this principle to this day. Alexander Gorchakov remains a role model for his competence, dedication and selfless service to his Motherland.
📖 The Foreign Ministry has launched an online exhibition marking Alexander Gorchakov’s 225th birthday.
👍1
Forwarded from Russian Mission to ASEAN
🗓 On June 15, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to #ASEAN H.E. Mr. Evgeny Zagaynov 🇷🇺 and Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for ASEAN Economic Community H.E. Mr. Satvinder Singh 🇸🇬 addressed the #EAEU-ASEAN Business Dialogue held on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (#SPIEF-2023).
🚩 Since 2018 the St.Petersburg International Economic Forum is hosting an annual EAEU-ASEAN Business Dialogue.
🚩 Since 2018 the St.Petersburg International Economic Forum is hosting an annual EAEU-ASEAN Business Dialogue.
🇷🇺President Vladimir #Putin at the Plenary session of the 26th St Petersburg International Economic Forum (#SPIEF2023):
💬We kept responsible and balanced fiscal and monetary policies in place. This effective combination made it possible for us to maintain minimal unemployment and inflation, which is lower in Russia than in many Western countries, both in the eurozone and other regions. It is close to the historical low – 2.9 percent. Unemployment stands at 3.3 percent which is the lowest in our history.
❗️Importantly, a stable macroeconomic situation has become our competitive advantage and an effective factor behind growth.
Read in full👉 http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71445
💬We kept responsible and balanced fiscal and monetary policies in place. This effective combination made it possible for us to maintain minimal unemployment and inflation, which is lower in Russia than in many Western countries, both in the eurozone and other regions. It is close to the historical low – 2.9 percent. Unemployment stands at 3.3 percent which is the lowest in our history.
❗️Importantly, a stable macroeconomic situation has become our competitive advantage and an effective factor behind growth.
Read in full👉 http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/71445
Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, St Petersburg, June 15, 2023
Read in full: https://mid.ru/ru/press_service/spokesman/briefings/1888025/?lang=en
"As a result of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant due to prolonged shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces, 36 settlements in Kherson Region were flooded. I will not detail it all now, as it is published on the information resources of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A whole chronology of the shelling of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant by the Ukrainian armed forces was put together especially for those who say that this never happened and no Ukrainian forces, fighters or battalions have touched the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. We published a chronology-calendar of the shelling along with the weapons used to do it, for those who like to turn away from the facts. But now we will “surround” them with these facts and there will be nowhere to turn. A large-scale humanitarian operation has been taking place in this Russian region over the last few days. Russian Emergencies Ministry workers rescued almost 2,000 people, among them hundreds of children. This is to do with all sorts of contrived tribunals and non-existent warrants issued, which allegedly represent the Kiev regime’s claims against our country that we are not taking care of children or, on the contrary, are violating their rights. Have you seen pictures of what happened after the flooding of the territory, caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant? Did those who did this think about children? There are children there. And there are a lot of them. They were not given any time to prepare for such a development. What about the ICC or its prosecutors, when under their noses the tragedy of people escaping from the Kiev regime is unfolding, the regime that is systematically destroying civilian infrastructure year after year. There was no control over it until Russia moved into an active phase of action in February 2022.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that just as the Kiev regime systematically shelled the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (we published a step-by-step calendar of their crimes), year after year they destroyed civilian infrastructure in the territories under their control, in Crimea and on the approaches to it. Weren’t there attempts to blow up and mine power lines? There were. The Western community paid no attention to this, turned away. Cutting off waterways that supply Crimea is not destroying or blocking vital civilian infrastructure? Remember how they blocked the railway lines that led to Donbass and were supposed to provide supplies of everything there? Wasn’t that what happened? This is the same thing. Then the active phase began. It can no longer be called sabotage. This is extremism and pure terrorism. Over 6,000 people have been evacuated. This data is constantly being updated. I’m talking about the statistics for the last two or three days, but this data will continue to be updated. About 75 tonnes of food and 30 tonnes of bottled water have been delivered to the flooded area. Is this just what Russia is doing now, saving people? Of course not. All these years, humanitarian convoys have been going to Donbass. Let me remind you how western journalists, including The Guardian, wrote of the photos of these trucks covered with white film, that it was the transfer of tanks to the territory of Donbass. These were the first steps, the first trucks in convoys carrying humanitarian supplies, which then stretched out over the years. So much was brought there to support the civilian population, including children. Who in the international community thought about the children of Donbass then? No one ever did. They have now made up the whole story about writing some fake paper and calling it “taking care of the children”. In Novaya Kakhovka over 50,000 cubic metres of water have been pumped out of buildings and infrastructure facilities. People are beginning to return to their homes."
Read in full: https://mid.ru/ru/press_service/spokesman/briefings/1888025/?lang=en
"As a result of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant due to prolonged shelling by the Ukrainian armed forces, 36 settlements in Kherson Region were flooded. I will not detail it all now, as it is published on the information resources of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. A whole chronology of the shelling of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant by the Ukrainian armed forces was put together especially for those who say that this never happened and no Ukrainian forces, fighters or battalions have touched the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant. We published a chronology-calendar of the shelling along with the weapons used to do it, for those who like to turn away from the facts. But now we will “surround” them with these facts and there will be nowhere to turn. A large-scale humanitarian operation has been taking place in this Russian region over the last few days. Russian Emergencies Ministry workers rescued almost 2,000 people, among them hundreds of children. This is to do with all sorts of contrived tribunals and non-existent warrants issued, which allegedly represent the Kiev regime’s claims against our country that we are not taking care of children or, on the contrary, are violating their rights. Have you seen pictures of what happened after the flooding of the territory, caused by the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant? Did those who did this think about children? There are children there. And there are a lot of them. They were not given any time to prepare for such a development. What about the ICC or its prosecutors, when under their noses the tragedy of people escaping from the Kiev regime is unfolding, the regime that is systematically destroying civilian infrastructure year after year. There was no control over it until Russia moved into an active phase of action in February 2022.
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that just as the Kiev regime systematically shelled the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (we published a step-by-step calendar of their crimes), year after year they destroyed civilian infrastructure in the territories under their control, in Crimea and on the approaches to it. Weren’t there attempts to blow up and mine power lines? There were. The Western community paid no attention to this, turned away. Cutting off waterways that supply Crimea is not destroying or blocking vital civilian infrastructure? Remember how they blocked the railway lines that led to Donbass and were supposed to provide supplies of everything there? Wasn’t that what happened? This is the same thing. Then the active phase began. It can no longer be called sabotage. This is extremism and pure terrorism. Over 6,000 people have been evacuated. This data is constantly being updated. I’m talking about the statistics for the last two or three days, but this data will continue to be updated. About 75 tonnes of food and 30 tonnes of bottled water have been delivered to the flooded area. Is this just what Russia is doing now, saving people? Of course not. All these years, humanitarian convoys have been going to Donbass. Let me remind you how western journalists, including The Guardian, wrote of the photos of these trucks covered with white film, that it was the transfer of tanks to the territory of Donbass. These were the first steps, the first trucks in convoys carrying humanitarian supplies, which then stretched out over the years. So much was brought there to support the civilian population, including children. Who in the international community thought about the children of Donbass then? No one ever did. They have now made up the whole story about writing some fake paper and calling it “taking care of the children”. In Novaya Kakhovka over 50,000 cubic metres of water have been pumped out of buildings and infrastructure facilities. People are beginning to return to their homes."
🤝 President Vladimir Putin received heads of delegations of African states in the Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg
💬 Vladimir Putin: Comprehensive development of ties with African countries is a priority of Russian foreign policy.
We have consistently stood for further consolidating the traditionally friendly relations with African countries and the primary regional association – the African Union – based on principles of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs.
Comprehensive preparations are underway for a milestone event – the second #RussiaAfrica summit to be held soon here, in St Petersburg.
🌍 Russia has the utmost respect for the principled position of African states in favour of maintaining global and regional stability and security, peaceful settlement of conflicts, and establishing a more just model of international relations
We welcome the balanced approach of our African friends towards the Ukrainian crisis.
☝️ Friends, we appreciate your interest in seeking ways to resolve the conflict. We immediately accepted your proposal to hold talks regarding the situation around Ukraine.
🔗 Read in full: https://is.gd/aUn9PT
#RussiaAfrica
💬 Vladimir Putin: Comprehensive development of ties with African countries is a priority of Russian foreign policy.
We have consistently stood for further consolidating the traditionally friendly relations with African countries and the primary regional association – the African Union – based on principles of equality, mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs.
Comprehensive preparations are underway for a milestone event – the second #RussiaAfrica summit to be held soon here, in St Petersburg.
🌍 Russia has the utmost respect for the principled position of African states in favour of maintaining global and regional stability and security, peaceful settlement of conflicts, and establishing a more just model of international relations
We welcome the balanced approach of our African friends towards the Ukrainian crisis.
☝️ Friends, we appreciate your interest in seeking ways to resolve the conflict. We immediately accepted your proposal to hold talks regarding the situation around Ukraine.
🔗 Read in full: https://is.gd/aUn9PT
#RussiaAfrica
President of Russia
Meeting with heads of delegations of African states
Vladimir Putin received heads of delegations of African states in the Constantine Palace.
🎙 Excerpts from President Vladimir Putin's remarks in the plenary session of the 26th St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
• This proves yet again that common sense, business initiative and objective market forces outweigh politics. This also demonstrates that this ugly and de-facto neo-colonial international system no longer works, while the multipolar world order is, on the contrary, becoming stronger. This is an inevitable process.
• In today’s world it is hard to make other countries mindlessly tow to somebody’s interests; it is practically impossible sometimes. Those who do it should finally realise that it is counterproductive not only for the global economy, which is hard to perceive at one glance; it is unacceptable for millions of people. Unacceptable.
• And the current situation, the current crisis in Ukraine is beneficial for them. It is a pretext to conceal their economic mistakes both in energy and finance. They have driven the situation to an inflation spike. Why? Because they were flooding their economy with trillions of dollars
• Now they are considering supplies of aircraft [NATO's to Ukraine]. But if they are located at air bases outside Ukraine and are used in hostilities, we will have to think about how and where we can hit the resources that are used against us in the hostilities. There is a serious danger of NATO’s further involvement in this armed conflict.
• Nuclear weapons are created to ensure our security, in the broadest sense of the word, and the existence of the Russian state. First, we see no need to use it; and second, considering this, even as a possibility, factors into lowering the threshold for the use of such weapons. This is my first point. The second point is that we have more such nuclear weapons than NATO countries. They know about it and never stop trying to persuade us to start nuclear reduction talks.
Read in full: https://is.gd/rKCq8t
• This proves yet again that common sense, business initiative and objective market forces outweigh politics. This also demonstrates that this ugly and de-facto neo-colonial international system no longer works, while the multipolar world order is, on the contrary, becoming stronger. This is an inevitable process.
• In today’s world it is hard to make other countries mindlessly tow to somebody’s interests; it is practically impossible sometimes. Those who do it should finally realise that it is counterproductive not only for the global economy, which is hard to perceive at one glance; it is unacceptable for millions of people. Unacceptable.
• And the current situation, the current crisis in Ukraine is beneficial for them. It is a pretext to conceal their economic mistakes both in energy and finance. They have driven the situation to an inflation spike. Why? Because they were flooding their economy with trillions of dollars
• Now they are considering supplies of aircraft [NATO's to Ukraine]. But if they are located at air bases outside Ukraine and are used in hostilities, we will have to think about how and where we can hit the resources that are used against us in the hostilities. There is a serious danger of NATO’s further involvement in this armed conflict.
• Nuclear weapons are created to ensure our security, in the broadest sense of the word, and the existence of the Russian state. First, we see no need to use it; and second, considering this, even as a possibility, factors into lowering the threshold for the use of such weapons. This is my first point. The second point is that we have more such nuclear weapons than NATO countries. They know about it and never stop trying to persuade us to start nuclear reduction talks.
Read in full: https://is.gd/rKCq8t
President of Russia
Plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum
Vladimir Putin took part in the plenary session of the 26th St Petersburg International Economic Forum.
🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov’s answer to a question from NTV on the sidelines of the 26th St Petersburg International Economic Forum, St Petersburg, June 16, 2023
❓ Question: You have said that the Ukrainian part of the “grain deal” has turned into a commercial project. What does Russia think about the possibility of its extension? Are there any signs that our position will be taken into account?
💬 Sergey Lavrov: Why should we extend an unviable deal? The part of the package regarding Russian fertilisers and foods, proposed by UN Secretary-General Antonio #Guterres, is not being implemented. Only the Ukrainian part is being implemented, but only as a commercial deal rather than for the purpose mentioned by Guterres, which is to satisfy the needs of the poorest countries.
👉Less than 3 percent of the total volume dispatched by #Ukraine under the #grain part of the initiative were delivered to the poorest developing countries on the special list of the UN World Food Programme.
As for our part of the package deal, the explosion of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline alone has shown that some people would like to destroy the package and everything else that created conditions for expanding our trade and the delivery of Russian products to developing countries, and to keep only the commercial segment of the Ukrainian part of the package.
When the special military operation began, about 300,000 tonnes of #fertilisers were seized in EU ports. President Vladimir #Putin said in August 2022 that we would deliver these fertilisers to developing countries free of charge. It took six months to send a small batch to an African country, Malawi. Several months later, similar small batches were sent to Kenya and Nigeria. The West is not willing to lift the barriers it itself has created to the delivery of Russian fertilisers to the poor countries of the Global South. Let them do their business.
Ukraine and the EU have established “solidarity lanes,” which are a combination of land and river routes. Many European countries are angry about cheap and low-quality Ukrainian grain that does not meet sanitary requirements. Five countries have refused to accept it and demand compensation from the European Commission. If they have more than they need, they can send the surplus to Africa and other countries that need it, including as fodder for their cattle.
Ukraine is mostly exporting fodder grain, which is different from Russian deliveries where wheat makes up the bulk. Well, they can continue to do it, to take care of their profits.
For the past months when the Russian part of the “grain deal” was blocked, we continued to deliver grain to developing countries via other routes, which are not obstructed by Western barriers. We will continue to do this. There is no doubt about that. We will deliver for free the same amount Ukraine has sent to the poorest countries over nearly a year since the signing of the deal, or even more. This is what President Putin has said.
🔗 https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1888498/
#GrainDeal #SPIEF2023
❓ Question: You have said that the Ukrainian part of the “grain deal” has turned into a commercial project. What does Russia think about the possibility of its extension? Are there any signs that our position will be taken into account?
💬 Sergey Lavrov: Why should we extend an unviable deal? The part of the package regarding Russian fertilisers and foods, proposed by UN Secretary-General Antonio #Guterres, is not being implemented. Only the Ukrainian part is being implemented, but only as a commercial deal rather than for the purpose mentioned by Guterres, which is to satisfy the needs of the poorest countries.
👉Less than 3 percent of the total volume dispatched by #Ukraine under the #grain part of the initiative were delivered to the poorest developing countries on the special list of the UN World Food Programme.
As for our part of the package deal, the explosion of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline alone has shown that some people would like to destroy the package and everything else that created conditions for expanding our trade and the delivery of Russian products to developing countries, and to keep only the commercial segment of the Ukrainian part of the package.
When the special military operation began, about 300,000 tonnes of #fertilisers were seized in EU ports. President Vladimir #Putin said in August 2022 that we would deliver these fertilisers to developing countries free of charge. It took six months to send a small batch to an African country, Malawi. Several months later, similar small batches were sent to Kenya and Nigeria. The West is not willing to lift the barriers it itself has created to the delivery of Russian fertilisers to the poor countries of the Global South. Let them do their business.
Ukraine and the EU have established “solidarity lanes,” which are a combination of land and river routes. Many European countries are angry about cheap and low-quality Ukrainian grain that does not meet sanitary requirements. Five countries have refused to accept it and demand compensation from the European Commission. If they have more than they need, they can send the surplus to Africa and other countries that need it, including as fodder for their cattle.
Ukraine is mostly exporting fodder grain, which is different from Russian deliveries where wheat makes up the bulk. Well, they can continue to do it, to take care of their profits.
For the past months when the Russian part of the “grain deal” was blocked, we continued to deliver grain to developing countries via other routes, which are not obstructed by Western barriers. We will continue to do this. There is no doubt about that. We will deliver for free the same amount Ukraine has sent to the poorest countries over nearly a year since the signing of the deal, or even more. This is what President Putin has said.
🔗 https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1888498/
#GrainDeal #SPIEF2023