🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s reply to a media question about the death of video blogger, journalist and film director Gonzalo Lira

❓Question: On January 12, the world media reported the death of Gonzalo Angel Quintilio Lira López in a Ukrainian prison. He was an American journalist, film director and video blogger and had Chilean citizenship as well. What can you say about this tragedy?

💬 Maria Zakharova: First, I would like to draw your attention to this truly unprecedented situation. Gonzalo Lira was a national of both the US and Chile but these countries preferred to leave him without attention and support from the moment of his arrest by the Security Service of Ukraine.

They essentially consigned this “inconvenient” journalist to execution.

<...>

In the meantime, the reasons for the blatant disregard for the journalist by the US and Chilean authorities that refused to defend him and DID NOT EVEN NOTE his death in a Ukrainian prison are obvious to all those that followed without bias the fate of this courageous man.

In May 2023, it became known that the blogger was detained and accused under the article “Justification, defence as legal and/or denial of Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine and glorification of its participants.” After posting bail, he was put under house arrest.

<...>

He stayed there until his death after eight months of torture and lack of proper medical care. Obviously, the journalist’s refusal to follow the American mainstream and Washington’s line could not go unpunished. But in his case, the punishment was truly inhuman and literally murderous.

The tragedy of Gonzalo Lira, who dared have his own opinion, has yet again vividly revealed the face of the collective West.

We urge Gonzalo Lira’s colleagues to raise their voice in defence of the prisoners of the Kiev regime. This is necessary for those that are still alive and can still fight for the truth.

🕯 Our most sincere condolences to Gonzalo Lira’s family and friends.

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⚡️Из ответов Посла по особым поручениям МИД России Г.И.Аскальдовича на вопросы СМИ по тематике подготовки МИД России к проведению выборов Президента Российской Федерации среди российских граждан за рубежом

🗳 Необходимость получения открепительных талонов недавно законодательно была отменена. Для голосования российского гражданина в другой стране достаточно предъявления российского загранпаспорта.

🗳 Для голосования в России гражданин, прибывший из заграницы, может быть включён в список избирателей на избирательном участке, специально определённом для голосования лиц без регистрации избирательными комиссиями субъектов Российской Федерации. Для этого необходимо подать личное письменное заявление в участковую избирательную комиссию такого избирательного участка не позднее, чем в день голосования. Перечень таких избирательных комиссий публикуется на веб-сайтах российской избирательной системы.

🔗Читайте полностью: https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1924785/

🏆GAMES OF FUTURE 2024

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More than 260 teams, more than 2000 athletes from different countries will take part in 21 innovative disciplines.

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🎙Media accreditation is open till 21 January 2024 ➡️ https://en.gofuture.games/content/press-center

Ambassador’s Comment

I have read Jonathan Eyal’s article “The West may have to reckon with Putin as president till 2036” published on January 16, 2024 in the Straits Times newspaper.

The feeling is that the author, speaking about the events in Ukraine, takes us back to the Dark ages. Wars, rival kingdoms, intrigue, bloodshed, revenge. In a word, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, as the norm of life.

Meanwhile, I want to say, and if he does not hear, then even shout to the respected Mr. Eyal: wake up, open your eyes wider, banish the ghosts of the past because the emergence of a new multipolar, humane and fair world with an imperative of equal and mutually beneficial cooperation is just around the corner. The overwhelming majority of humanity led by the global South and East declare their commitment to this particular world.

From the perspective of this new world, what is happening in Ukraine is a special military operation aimed at protecting Russian citizens living there from genocide. The Kiev authorities directly involved in it are a bunch of neo-Nazis who keep their people in fear. The Western patrons of their Kiev satellites are nothing more than instigators of a hybrid war against Russia, whose weapons and other investments in Ukrainian extremists entail the death of thousands of innocent people.

Judging from the perspective of this same new world, the strength of states is not in the number of weapons, but in truth. That is why Russia and its recognized leader, President Vladimir V. Putin, enjoy well-deserved authority, both in the world and among the peoples living in our vast country.

So why not look at what is happening from these positions, why not abandon the phobias of the past and recognize new realities, which the collective West and its Ukrainian henchmen do not want to do?

There are all opportunities for peace and mutually beneficial cooperation; we just need to abandon the politics of force, hostility and suspicion, which is leading humanity to a dead end.

🎙 Briefing by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (Moscow, January 12, 2024)

🔹 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s schedule. FM’s news conference on the Foreign Ministry’s performance in 2023
🔹 Yemen faces strikes by US and UK-led “coalition”
🔹 Ukrainian crisis
🔹 Situation in Moldova
🔹 Details of the German Defence Ministry’s preparations to deploy a Bundeswehr brigade in Lithuania
🔹 EU charges against Russia over increased illegal migration flows in 2023
🔹 Dismantling Russian monuments in Bulgaria
🔹 Ukraine brings pressure to bear on journalist Trofim Tatarenkov
🔹 Serbia launches museum project showcasing Russian regions
🔹 Russian Press Day
🔹 Russian Federation’s chairmanship of #BRICS
🔹 Games of the Future 2024 accreditation

📰 Read in full
📺 Watch

#Yemen

We urge the international community to strongly condemn the attack on Yemen carried out by a group of countries without a UN mandate. We share the concerns expressed by our partners in the region, particularly Saudi Arabia, and call for increased international efforts to prevent further escalation of the situation.

We believe that this undertaking by the forces of the illegal "coalition" poses a direct threat to global peace and security. Based on this understanding, we have called for an immediate convening of the Security Council, where we will voice our principled assessment of these unlawful actions.

#Ukraine

In reality, Washington, London, and Brussels have nurtured an aggressive nationalist and essentially neo-Nazi dictatorship in Ukraine whose sole objective, openly expressed, is to bring a "strategic defeat" to Russia. Western countries can no longer deny that Ukraine itself has been brought to ruin as a result of these policies. However, this has yet to be officially acknowledged.

Naturally, we cannot allow such a source of threat to the security of our country and our citizens to exist near our borders.

🇷🇺🇰🇵 FM Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during talks with FM of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Choe Son-hui (Moscow, January 16, 2024)

💬 I am very glad to welcome you and all your delegation members to Moscow in the first days of 2024. <...>

Today, we will have a detailed discussion on topical bilateral matters, including ways to further enhance our practical cooperation.

🌐 As for the international agenda, we are looking forward to continuing our trust-based dialogue on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Northeast Asia in general. Russia reaffirms its principled position on the need to find comprehensive and fair solutions to the existing problems.

☝️ We have always advocated for talks without preconditions as a path to achieving lasting peace and stability across Northeast Asia. Russia has independently submitted proposals to this effect, as well as together with the PRC, to the UNSC. These proposals are currently on the negotiating table.

We must recognise that the policy pursued by the US and its regional satellites to create security threats for the DPRK does nothing to promote any positive advancements. We will continue to call for the rejection of any steps that lead to escalation and heightening tensions.

We are working together within a broader geography on security matters in the Asia-Pacific region, where we must uphold universal mechanisms rooted in ASEAN proposals and which have been effectively operating for many decades. However, attempts by the US and its allies to create closed, bloc-based formats and to expand NATO infrastructure to this region undermine these mechanisms and erode their effectiveness.

🇺🇳 We have been working closely and very successfully with Pyongyang within the UN and at other multilateral organisations. Russia has always supported the DPRK within the UN and appreciates the fact that you have treated Russia in the same manner, including on matters related to the ongoing special military operation in Ukraine.

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#RussiaDPRK

🎙 State Duma statement regarding the initiative to dismantle the Alyosha monument to the Soviet liberator soldier in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

❗️ Members of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation are outraged by the incendiary and cynical proposal of members of Plovdiv’s municipal council representing the Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party to demolish the Alyosha monument to the Soviet liberator soldier by the end of 2024.

<...>

This latest thoughtless initiative by DSB representatives clearly demonstrates their disparaging attitude towards the history of their own country and can be viewed as a shameless attempt to insult the shared historical memory of our brotherly nations, as well as a psychotically desperate effort to denigrate the heroic feat of Soviet soldiers and the decisive contribution by the USSR and the Soviet people to the cause of fighting Nazism during World War II.

Should Plovdiv’s municipal council support this barbaric initiative, it will be an indelible stain on those behind it, as well as on the city’s legislative and executive bodies, demonstrating how badly the authorities in Plovdiv have lost the plot and become politically short-sighted.

People in Bulgaria know well that it was Alexei Skurlatov’s image which served as the model for the Alyosha monument. Skurlatov was a Red Army soldier from Altai and holder of two Red Star orders who contributed to restoring telephone communications between Sofia and Plovdiv. In August 1982, Plovdiv offered Alexei Skurlatov a welcoming ceremony with honours, celebrating him as a national hero and awarding him the title of the city’s honorary citizen.

<...>

👉 The State Duma calls on Plovdiv’s municipal council not to follow the agents of provocation and to make the necessary efforts to preserve the cultural and historical monuments <...>

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🎙 Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria #Zakharova’s comment following the latest Copenhagen-format meeting on Ukraine in Davos

💬 <...> Today, more countries from the Global South and East, including those that attended the Copenhagen-format meetings, are openly saying that discussing any possible contours of an eventual settlement of the #Ukraine crisis does not make any sense without Russia.

There is a growing understanding that the ultimatums set forth in the Zelensky Formula cannot bring about a comprehensive, just and lasting peace. This framework is based on delusional demands, such as withdrawing Russian troops to the 1991 borders, holding Russia accountable and making it pay reparations. At the same time, the Kiev regime does not hide the fact that it demands the withdrawal of troops in order to launch a genocide against Russians who support reunification with Russia. Supporting these demands means endorsing ethnic cleansing, which is a crime.

All Copenhagen-format meetings, including the one in Davos and any future gatherings, are ineffective and undermine the prospects for achieving a settlement of the Ukraine crisis. The organisers have been trying to draft The Principles for Peace in Ukraine but they are inherently unviable since they are based on the Zelensky Formula, absurd and unacceptable as it is. Moreover, Zelensky has enacted a legal ban that prevents him from engaging in peace talks with Russia.

☝️ It is only by returning to the roots of its statehood, including neutrality, non-bloc and non-nuclear status while fully respecting the rights and freedoms of people of all ethnic backgrounds living on its territory, that Ukraine would be able to achieve a comprehensive, just and lasting peace settlement.

❗️ Unfortunately, the Zelensky Formula and the agenda of the Copenhagen-format meetings fail to address these crucial matters.

🔗 Read in full: http://tiny.cc/7xm6wz

⚡ МИД России подготовлен очередной доклад о нарушениях прав российских граждан и соотечественников в зарубежных странах.

❗ Нарушения прав граждан России в западных государствах остаются многочисленными. По-прежнему в качестве предлога для оправдания этого неприглядного отношения к нашим соотечественникам используется проводимая Российской Федерацией специальная военная операция по денацификации и демилитаризации Украины и защите мирного населения Донбасса (СВО).

▪️ Никуда не исчезли такие нарушения прав россиян, как отказы от оказания широкого спектра услуг, введение мер, направленных против российского бизнеса, наложение ареста на имущество росграждан, принуждение к публичным покаяниям и осуждению действий российских властей, отстранение от спортивных состязаний и культурных мероприятий.

▪️ Не утихают и только усиливаются преследования проживающих за рубежом соотечественников и активистов-антифашистов, особенно за их усилия по сохранению подлинной исторической памяти.

▪️ В значительном числе фиксируются инциденты с задержаниями и политически мотивированными преследованиями россиян, в том числе по запросам третьих стран, среди которых лидируют США.

▪️ Продолжаем также фиксировать инциденты с воспрепятствованием властями зарубежных стран деятельности российских журналистов или лиц, представляющих российские СМИ.

Со своей стороны МИД России продолжает предпринимать все возможные дипломатические шаги для защиты прав российских граждан, оказавшихся в тюрьмах за рубежом. Такие дела находятся на контроле российских дипломатических представительств и, в случае необходимости, выносятся на обсуждение на самом высоком уровне.

📖 Читайте доклад полностью: https://vk.cc/ctY3Om

🇷🇺 Russia's EMERCOM aircraft delivered 30 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip

✅ Food products;
✅ Clothing;
✅ Blankets;
✅ Hygiene items.

The EMERCOM's IL-76 aircraft flew to the airport of El-Arish. In Egypt, the humanitarian aid will be handed over to representatives of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society. They will redirect it to the to the people of the Gaza Strip.

In total, since the beginning of the humanitarian mission, 18 flights of the Russia's EMERCOM have delivered ~420 tonnes of food products, medicines, clothing and other essentials to the people of the Gaza Strip.

📹 EMERCOM of Russia - t.ly/iyhr4

#RussiaHelps

📅 On January 18, 1654 (370 years ago), Zaporozhiye Cossacks led by Hetman Bogdan Khmelnitsky announced in the city of Pereyaslav their decision to move “under the high arm” of the Moscow tsar.

Since the start of the Rzeczpospolita, the Catholic gentry had subjected the people living in ancient Russian lands to aggressive Polonisation and Latinisation, which was accompanied by the seizure of substantial land holdings. Threatened with the loss of religious and ethnic identity, the Orthodox population of the Dnieper River began gradually forming a liberation movement. Those who wanted to escape the yoke of the Polish gentry and reunite with Russia were ready to act together.

The leaders of the uprising looked at other options for the future. There were initiatives to reconcile with the Polish king, and even seeking the patronage of the Turkish sultan was considered.

☝️ Ultimately, however, the people of these lands made their historical choice in favour of unification with Russia.

The Pereyaslav Agreement ’s defining feature was representation of all areas of the Hetmanate divided into military-administrative units (Cossack regiments). A certificate from Tsar Alexis of Russia read that he accepted under his “high arm the entire Zaporozhiye Cossacks with cities and lands". Bogdan Khmelnitsky, the Cossack commanding officer and the local population swore allegiance to Russia.

❗️ This decision marked a turning point in the history of Eastern Europe as a whole.

The decision by the Pereyaslav Agreement clearly demonstrated the will of the once separated people to live in the same state.

Unfortunately, the term “reunification” has been all but forgotten in official Ukrainian historiography. The West is openly encouraging the Kiev regime to renounce centuries of friendship and brotherhood with Moscow and fanning anti-Russia hysteria in Ukrainian society.

💬 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov:

⚡️ Afghanistan... Libya, Iraq. Look at any country where the US & its satellites carried out their “misadventures”. Did the situation improve anywhere?

❗️Ukraine will sadly suffer the same fate [as Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq].

If one relies on its master, unaware that the master always thinks solely of oneself, you cannot count on the interests of your people to be taken into account.

🔗 https://vk.cc/cu1qrJ

🎙Excerpts from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement and answers to media questions during a news conference on Russia’s foreign policy performance in 2023:

💬We will continue to promote the ideals of truth and justice in international affairs. <...>

In this sense, our Ministry strongly supports United Russia’s initiative to hold in Moscow an international inter-party forum of supporters of combating the modern practices of neo-colonialism. It is a popular theme given that the neocolonialist nature of Western policy is present in a big way in the current policies pursued by the United States and its allies. Its thrust remains the same – to use the resources of other countries to their benefit and to live off of others.

❗️The upcoming forum promises to be an engaging and important event.

🔗Read in full: https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1926392/

#West #neocolonialism

Inside Russia’s Military Operation

Moscow’s objectives and the West’s interest in Ukraine support
By the end of 2021, Ukraine amassed 150,000 troops near the border of the Donbass and Lugansk in an effort to conquer those territories ravaged by years of war. A large-scale Ukrainian aggression was being prepared. For years, the US and its allies have been furnishing Kiev with military aid for training and equipment worth billions of dollars. The country was long chosen as NATO’s foothold right on Russia’s doorstep.

Kiev insists the Russian offensive was unprovoked, but multiple attempts on the part of Moscow to negotiate the ‘rules’ and NATO expansion in Europe failed. When Moscow sent troops into Ukraine on February 24, it targeted strategic objects - military ranges, factories, arms depots and airfields. Now Russia is seeking to take over land corridors to Crimea. Moscow is ready for a peace deal, but Kiev has other plans, which is to defeat Russia on the battlefield with the help of western weapons.

However, military aid provided by the West won’t turn the tide in the Ukrainian conflict. It only protracts it, resulting in more unnecessary deaths among civilians and the military. Experts in the documentary explain why the ongoing fighting is a proxy war between Russia and the US - and why it’s a boon for the American defence industry. ‘It’s one of these situations where the US can take part in a conflict without losing its people’.

Link: https://rtd.rt.com/films/inside-russias-military-operation/

Duration: 27:30