📆On 25 March - 30 April 2024, Moscow is hosting the International Forum for Scientific Youth “Step into the Future” dedicated to the 300th Anniversary of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

👩‍🔬👨‍🔬Every year the Forum brings together in Moscow 1,500 future scientific and technological leaders from Europe, Asia, America, Africa, and Oceania. The Forum is attended by schoolchildren and entry-level students at the age of 12-22, who have their own achievements in science and engineering.

🔬The “Step into the Future” International Forum is an unprecedented event by world standards, and not only in terms of the number of participants, but also in terms of first-class academic environment where its events will be held.

👉More info is available at the official website of the Forum: http://www.step-into-the-future.ru/eng/index.php

🎙Media accreditation is open until 5 February. The email address for applications is sitfp@bk.ru

⚡️On January 29, Ukrainian forces fired 8 rockets from the MLRS at the Kalininsky district of #Donetsk, at least three residents were killed.

📹https://t.me/SputnikInt/48588

#StopNaziUkraine #NoStatuteOfLimitations

🇷🇺🇧🇾 Presidents Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko chaired (http://tiny.cc/b1tkwz) a meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus at the Konstantin Palace.

💬 Vladimir Putin: It is noteworthy that the draft Guidelines for Implementing the Provisions of the Treaty Establishing the Union State in 2024–2026 submitted to the Supreme State Council is aimed at further advancing the comprehensive interaction between the two countries, including in industry, agriculture, energy, transport, logistics, and information.

A new strategy for scientific and technological development of the Union State for the period until 2035 has been submitted for approval. It contains specific steps to strengthen overall technological sovereignty, including the launch of large joint projects for import substitution and the creation of competitive products with high added value.

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🤝 The programme for the Union State’s coordinated foreign policy actions until 2026, prepared for this meeting, will continue and encourage even closer Russia-Belarus coordination in international affairs.

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📃 Following the meeting, a number of decisions were adopted and relevant documents were signed. The following decrees of the Supreme State Council of the Union State were signed:

• On the Progress on the Guidelines for Implementing the Provisions of the Treaty Establishing the Union State for 2021–2023 and Union programmes;

• On the Guidelines for Implementing the Provisions of the Treaty Establishing the Union State for 2024–2026;

• On Certain Issues of Implementing a Common Industrial Policy and the Rules to Confirm the Manufacture of Industrial Products on the Territory of the Union State;

• A resolution On Implementing A Programme for Coordinated Foreign Policy Action by the States – Parties to the Treaty Establishing the Union State for 2022–2023 and A Programme for Coordinated Foreign Policy Action by the States – Parties to the Treaty Establishing the Union State for 2024–2026 was also signed;

and much more: http://tiny.cc/a1tkwz

🏆 On September 15 to 29 Moscow and Yekaterinburg will host the 2024 World Friendship Games, a new multi-sport tournament free from any form of discrimination.

🏃‍♀️⛹️‍♂️Leading athletes from all continents are invited to take part. The only criterion for participation is the athlete's own sporting performance.

🚴‍♂️🤾‍♂️The event will feature competitions in 33 summer sports.

🌐 About 7900 athletes from more than 70 countries are expected to take part.

Learn more👉https://games2024.ru/en

#WorldFriendshipGames #2024WFG

❗️Key takeaways from statements by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey #Lavrov at a roundtable meeting with heads of diplomatic missions on the situation around #Ukraine:

▪️ Western statements that the Baltics, Sweden, and Finland could be the 'next' after the special operation in Ukraine are absurd

▪️ The #West is trying hard to ignore the spread of weapons from Ukraine to hotspots and their use by extremists and terrorists

▪️ The West has already allocated more than $200 billion to Ukraine in less than two years

▪️ The West is unable to stop supporting Kiev despite being aware of the looming failure of the 'Project Ukraine'

▪️ Russia is working to determine the origin of the weapons that Kiev used to down the #Il76 plane which carried Ukrainian POWs over the Belgorod region

▪️ Russia is not banning access to its probe into the downing of the Il-76 plane for those who want to know the truth about what happened

▪️ Weapons sent to Ukraine have already been detected in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Gaza, with Kiev 'doing business' on death

🔗 https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1928541/

⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Statement on the destruction of a Russian Il-76 military transport

💬 On the morning of January 24, the Kiev regime committed another terrorist act by downing a Russian Il-76 military transport plane near the village of Yablonovo in the Korochansky District, Belgorod Region. It was carrying 65 Ukrainian POWs for an agreed-upon exchange. All of them, as well as six crew members and three Russian officers on board the plane were killed.

❗️ The plane was hit by a Ukrainian anti-aircraft missile system from the village of Liptsy in the Kharkov Region.

This is yet another atrocity committed by Zelensky’s criminal regime. Immediately after the plane went down, they made a misanthropic statement about the victory of the “valiant Armed Forces of Ukraine.” However, the office on Bankovaya Street changed its rhetoric as soon as it became known that the plane was carrying Ukrainian servicemen to an exchange site. They then began denying their involvement in the crash.

☝️ Kiev was well aware of the planned exchange. It also knew how the POWs were to be moved and by what route. The attack against the plane was a deliberate act. This terrorist act clearly demonstrates the Kiev regime’s inability to negotiate.

This is not the first cruel murder of Ukrainian POWs by the Zelensky junta. On July 29, 2022, the Banderites fired a missile at the penal colony in Yelenovka (DPR) where militants from the Azov battalion had been held captive. Over 50 people were killed and more than 70 wounded.

‼️ We resolutely condemn the Kiev regime’s terrorist act in the Belgorod Region. All those involved, including the organisers and executors from the Ukrainian military and civilian officials will be identified and held responsibly under Russian law.

This action shows once again the criminal nature of the neo-Nazi dictatorship in Kiev. Its leaders are indifferent to human life. They treat people as “expendable material” and kill them on orders from their Western bosses with Western-supplied arms.

It is perfectly obvious that the Zelensky criminal regime, nurtured by the US and its NATO satellites, poses a substantial threat not only to Russia but also to Ukraine, its ordinary citizens and the rest of the world. Being in agony, this regime can commit the most heinous atrocities.

👉 We believe international organisations, national governments and the world public must denounce this terrorist act and other crimes committed by the Kiev regime. Silence can only mean support for the regime’s barbarous nature and terrorist actions.

🔗 https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1927524/

❗️The second issue of the Bulletin on the activities of the Russian Federation Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights to protect children during a special military operation (SMO) is available at the official web-site of he Russian Federation Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Right in seven languages:

🇷🇺 Russian;
🇬🇧 English;
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan;
🇦🇲 Armenian;
🇪🇸 Spanish;
🇨🇳 Chinese;
🇫🇷 French.

The document contains information about activities of the Russian Federation Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights in the realization of the rights and interests of minors affected by the military actions.

💬 It doesn’t matter where or in what status a child is in Russia, in an orphanage, in a foster family, whether he or she has Russian citizenship or not. If he has a parent with full parental rights, the family has every opportunity to be reunited.

💬 Since the beginning of the SMO, representatives of Ukrainian authorities have not officially contacted the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights. It should be noted that Maria Lvova-Belova is open to interaction with the Ukrainian side, and if official requests were received, they would be considered.

💬 It is important to understand that the territories of the DPR and LPR have been shelled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces for many years, and most orphaned children from social institutions in the republic are aware of this. Children do not perceive Russia as an enemy and expect protection and help from us, so being placed in safe territory with Russian foster families is not a traumatic circumstance for them.

*The first Bulletin was presented on April 4, 2023.

🇷🇺🇨🇳 On January 30, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov received Executive Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China Ma Zhaoxu as part of the latter’s working visit to Russia.

The Parties praised Russia and China for the momentum they have generated in developing their relations in keeping with the agreements of the two countries’ leaders.

They emphasised the importance for Russia and China to achieve even closer coordination on the international stage, including within the United Nations and the UN Security Council, while also reaffirming their shared commitment to stepping up contacts in other international and regional organisations and forums, primarily within #BRICS, considering that Russia is chairing this association in 2024.

The two officials discussed the situation in Ukraine and had a trust-based exchange of views on ensuring security across the Eurasian space and in Asia-Pacific.

They expressed their firm belief in the urgent need to come up with a political and diplomatic solution to achieve a settlement in the Middle East and ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

🤝 Both Sides expressed their readiness to further strengthen bilateral cooperation on foreign policy matters with an unwavering focus on promoting peace and stability in the region and around the world.

During his visit to Moscow, Ma Zhaoxu met with First Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov on January 29. The two officials had a detailed exchange of opinions on the developments around the world and discussed a wide range of regional and national topics, as well as cooperation within multilateral associations. The Ukraine issue and an Israeli-Palestinian settlement were also on the agenda.

Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko also took part in the meeting.

As per tradition, these conversations took place in a friendly and trust-based atmosphere.

⚡️ Foreign Ministry statement on the situation in the Korean Peninsula

Tension has been escalating in the Korean Peninsula lately threatening security and stability in Northeast Asia.

This escalation stems from the provocative steps by the US and its allies, aimed at ramping up their military activity in the region, including by deploying NATO infrastructure, making military preparations and holding more manoeuvres and exercises, some involving nuclear components, close to the DPRK’s border.

The fact that the US and the collective West are seeking to shift the blame for escalating tension in the peninsula and in Northeast Asia in general onto the DPRK is nothing more than a reflection of their long-standing habit of shifting the burden of responsibility. In fact, it is the unrelenting aggressive provocations by Washington, Seoul and Tokyo that are forcing Pyongyang to take adequate measures to ensure its defence capabilities and security.

❗️ The Foreign Ministry calls for an end to the US’ irresponsible and hazardous policy, which uses its Indo-Pacific Strategy as a motto to divert countries in the region from developing independently, depriving their people of their sovereign right to preserve and strengthen their identity and choose their own development path.

🎙President Vladimir Putin: Russia’s Il-76 with Ukrainian POWs was shot down by the US Patriot system, this is confirmed.

❗️Russia insists on the international investigation into the Il-76 plane crash. The Patriot missile was launched at the Il-76 from the Ukrainian-controlled territory.

It was a great pleasure to meet #APEC Secretariat Executive Director Dr. Rebecca Sta. Maria at the Secretariat office. Had a fruitful and interesting discussion about APEC plans and possible contribution of APEC to emerging multipolar world as well as avenues of collaboration between APEC and #Russia.

⚡️ On the UN International Court of Justice’s refusal to designate Russia as an aggressor state and the DPR and LPR as terrorist organisations in response to Ukraine’s allegations

Read in full

💬 On January 31, the UN International Court of Justice delivered its judgment on the merits in the case filed by Ukraine in January 2017 on the Application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism (ICSFT). Russia’s arguments undercutting Ukraine’s groundless insinuations were heard in The Hague: the Court rejected almost all of more than 20 submissions made by Kiev during the seven-year proceedings, and left Ukraine without any reparations.

❗️The Court also dismissed Ukraine’s insinuations that the DPR and the LPR are allegedly terrorist organisations.

👉 These findings are of particular importance in light of the fact that Kiev intended to use the Court’s Judgment to support its demands for the transfer of Russian assets stolen in the West and the imposition of international restrictions on Russia.

In addition, the Court rejected Ukraine’s claim under the ICSFT that Russia should be held responsible for the crash of Boeing Flight MH17 and did not accept the Ukrainians’ allegations that the DPR was involved in the crash. During the hearing, Russia presented compelling evidence of fatal flaws in the pseudo-international investigation of the incident by the Joint Investigation Team under the umbrella of the Dutch justice system.

With regard to the events of 2014-2017, the UN International Court of Justice was unable to support Ukraine’s arguments about Russia’s alleged involvement and the guilt of the Donetsk militias in the shelling of the Bugas military checkpoint near Volnovakha, the military airfield in Kramatorsk, where the headquarters of the so-called ATO was located, and AFU positions in Mariupol and Avdeyevka, stating that these incidents did not fall under the ICSFT.

The Russian side highlighted the particular cynicism of the Ukrainian allegations: Kiev tried to present strikes against military targets as “acts of terror,” although the Ukrainian armed forces have been firing on the cities of Donbass with heavy weapons for many years, striking civilian objects, including an air strike on the building of the Lugansk regional administration on June 2, 2014, the killing of civilians in an attack on a public transport stop in Donetsk on January 22, 2015, and many other bloody crimes.

👉 Equally cynical is the way in which the Kiev regime tried to designate humanitarian aid to Donbass residents suffering from Ukrainian shelling and the economic blockade as financing terrorism.

The UN International Court of Justice stated that Russia had complied in good faith with its obligations to cooperate in the field of fighting terrorism financing, including the obligation to identify and freeze assets used to finance terrorism; to extradite or independently prosecute perpetrators of terrorist crimes; to provide mutual legal assistance; and to cooperate in the prevention of terrorist crimes. This is fully consistent with the FATF's earlier conclusions about the high level of Russia's fulfillment of its obligations in this area; the FATF assessed Ukraine's claims as being of a purely political nature.

We were bewildered, against this background, at the Court's conclusion that Russia had failed to take measures to investigate two facts contained in information received from Ukraine regarding persons who have allegedly collected funds in Russia to help the people of Donbass. The Court had to go against its own practice and set an unprecedentedly low bar for proving the applicability of the Terrorist Financing Convention when there was no evidence of either terrorism or its financing.

As a result of the proceedings, Ukraine was completely denied all claims for reparation or other forms of compensation.

⚡️ On the International Court of Justice finding no discrimination against Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians in Russia and completely rejecting Ukraine’s reparations claims

Read in full

💬 On January 31, 2024, the UN International Court of Justice released its final Judgment in the dispute with Russia initiated by Ukraine in January 2017, based on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The court rejected practically all Ukraine’s demands and recognised that Russia’s policy conforms to its commitments under the convention. There is no discrimination against Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea.

The main false accusation levelled by Kiev against Russia was that:

• Russia’s law-enforcement actions against members of the terrorist group Hizb ut-Tahrir and the extremist groups Tablighi Jamaat and the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People constituted persecution of Crimean Tatars on ethnic grounds. The court did not agree with this assessment. It did not find any elements of discrimination in the standards of Russian anti-extremist legislation. Nor did it detect any signs of racial discrimination in the application of these standards by Russian law-enforcement bodies.

• The court did not find that the ban on the Mejlis, which Russia has outlawed as an extremist organisation, violated the Convention. It emphasised in its Judgment that the Qurultay is the representative body of the Crimean Tatar people. It was not banned and continues fulfilling its functions in Crimea.

• The court rejected Ukraine’s accusations of Russia’s alleged involvement in the targeted murders and abductions of Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians in Crimea.

• The court also rejected all Ukraine’s claims on the issues of citizenship. It did not identify any cases of racial discrimination in the Russian laws on granting citizenship in Crimea since 2014.

• Ukraine’s allegations about the infringement of the rights of the Crimean Tatars and Ukrainians to access to their national media, assemblies and rallies and the preservation of cultural heritage sites were also found to lack merit.

• Russia’s restoration of the Khan’s Palace in Bachchisarai was not a “cultural catastrophe” as Ukrainian representatives tried to present it. It was necessary to remedy the effects of negligence on the part of the Ukrainian authorities that had brought this landmark of history and culture to a dilapidated state.

• The International Court of Justice recognised that the residents of Crimea have access to education in the Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian languages. At the same time, a majority on the court ruled that the sharp reduction in the number of schools with instruction in Ukrainian after Crimea’s transfer to Russia’s jurisdiction in 2014, is a violation of its commitments on the right to education under the CERD.

☝️ This finding is controversial enough, especially considering that the court admitted that Crimeans chose instruction in Russian of their own free will. Were the Russian authorities supposed to drag children into Ukrainian schools against their will? All those who want instruction in Ukrainian will be granted this opportunity in one way or another in accordance with current legislation.

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✅ The case is over. Russia is not supposed to take any special action to fulfil this judgment. All of Ukraine’s demands for reparations have been rejected.

🇷🇺🇺🇳 Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the UN:

🎙 Statement by Permanent Representative Vassily Nebenzia at UNSC briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question (January 31, 2024)

💬 The conflict has been going on for almost four months now. The colossal figures of loss and destruction speak for themselves – more than 26,000 people, including women and children, have become victims of indiscriminate bombardment and use of armed force. At least 65,000 people have been injured. 80 % of the entire population of Gaza have been internally displaced.

Due to the lack of unimpeded humanitarian access to the north and south of the enclave, especially to Khan Younis, and the widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure (reportedly up to 50 %) Gaza faces equally deadly risks of famine and infectious disease epidemics.

❗️ For our part, we have consistently and unwaveringly advocated an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.

Without a cessation of hostilities, there can be no meaningful humanitarian access to all those in need, no release of all hostages and no recovery of the Palestinian-Israeli settlement process on an internationally recognized basis.

☝️ Against this tragic humanitarian backdrop, we note the high-impact decision of a number of Western donors, led by the US, to suspend funding to UNRWA.

Provocative rhetoric of some representatives of Israel’s leadership, who call not only for the continuation of the military operation in the Gaza Strip, but also for the elimination of the UNRWA presence in the enclave and forced displacement of Palestinians from their places of permanent residence, is particularly alarming.

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🇷🇺 Russia will continue to do its utmost to contribute to stabilization in the Middle East and to advance the Middle East settlement process together with the countries of the region and in coordination with other conscious mediators. As before, we are open to discussing relevant initiatives within the collective UN framework.

Read in full

🇷🇺 Investigative Committee of Russia:

⚡️ Investigators identify the weapons system used by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to down the Il-76 plane in the Belgorod Region

The Investigative Committee is continuing its investigation of a criminal case following a terrorist attack perpetrated by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the sky over the Belgorod Region.

It has been established that the service personnel of the Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked the Il-76 military transport aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces using two missiles launched by a surface-to-air system from Liptsy, Kharkov Region, Ukraine.

The site is located 1.8 kilometres to the northeast and 4.8 kilometres to the southeast of the presumed impact site. The inspection helped identify 116 fragments belonging to the fuselage and mechanisms of the two missiles. They had English-language inscriptions and markings on them.

The following markings were found on the discovered fragments: ASSY 11455748, SN740179, ASSY 1146134», SN740206, ASSY 11461865, SN740207, Raytheon, CONFIDENTIAL classified by PATRIOT SECURITY CLASSIFICATION GUIDE DATED: 9/22/83 ADDENDA DATED 11/28/83 8/8/84 CONTRACT NO/DAAH01-86C-A018, as well as 18876 ASSY, MARTIN MARIETA and 10253043-39 02 S/N 80025.

The investigators used ion mobility spectrometry (IMS), gas-phase chromatography with mass spectrometric detection and high-performance liquid chromatography in selected ion mode to conduct a wipe analysis, which revealed traces of hexogen with up to 10 percent content of octogen, which is typical for foreign-made explosives.

These tests led to the conclusion that judging by their engineering features, geometry and markings the fragments from the crash site belong to the MIM-104A surface-to-air missile from the Patriot, a US launcher, developed by Raytheon and Hughes corporations and manufactured by Raytheon.