📚 8 марта в Шотландии в десятый раз прошел отборочный этап международного конкурса юных чтецов «Живая классика». Мероприятие состоялось в Глазго и собрало более 70 участников в возрасте от четырех до пятнадцати лет из различных городов региона. За главные призы в чтении прозы российских и советских авторов соревновались дети в возрасте от десяти лет. Ребята помладше выступали со стихотворными произведениями.

В своем выступлении по завершении мероприятия Генеральный консул России в Эдинбурге Д.И.Москаленко отметил высокий уровень подготовки юных чтецов, а также рост интереса к конкурсу в Шотландии – на этот раз он собрал почти вдвое больше участников, чем годом ранее. Указав на важность таких мероприятий для популяризации русского языка и русской литературы в регионе, дипломат поблагодарил коллективы русских школ и родителей ребят за их усилия по обучению детей русскому языку, а самих юных чтецов – за прекрасные выступления.

Все участники получили в подарок от Генерального консульства сладкие сувениры и книги российских и советских авторов, а мамам и бабушкам ребят Генеральный консул вручил цветы, поздравив их с Международным женским днем.

📚 On March 8, the qualifying round of the international young reciters' competition "Living Classics" was held in Scotland for the tenth time. The event, held in Glasgow, attracted over 70 participants between the ages of four and fifteen from various parts of the region. Children aged ten and up competed for the main prizes, reciting prose by Russian and Soviet authors. Younger children performed poetry.

In his speech at the event, Russian Consul General in Edinburgh Denis Moskalenko noted the high level of preparation of the young reciters, as well as growing interest in the competition in Scotland – this time, it attracted nearly twice as many participants as the previous year. Noting the importance of such events for popularizing the Russian language and literature in the region, the diplomat thanked the staff of Russian schools and the parents for their efforts in teaching children Russian, and thanked the young reciters for their excellent performances.

The Consul General presented sweets and books by Russian and Soviet authors to all participants, and congratulated the children's mothers and grandmothers on International Women's Day by giving them flowers.

⚡️ Russia's Foreign Ministry statement on the missile strike of the Ukrainian militants on Bryansk

On March 10, the neo-Nazi Kiev regime committed yet another heinous crime against the civilian population of Russia, carrying out a missile strike on Bryansk.

We strongly condemn this deliberately planned terrorist attack.

A busy business district in the city’s Sovetsky District came under targeted fire. The area is located near Bryansk State Engineering and Technology University, apartment buildings, commercial and industrial enterprises, catering establishments and children’s goods stores.

▪️ As a result of the attack, seven people were killed and 42 injured. One child, born in 2009, has been hospitalized in the regional children’s hospital.

The authorities are providing all necessary medical and other assistance and support. We extend our sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to those injured.

According to available information, the strike was carried out using approximately seven British long-range Storm Shadow missiles. The head of the Kiev regime, Zelensky, has already publicly reported to his handlers about this barbaric act, calling it a “successful operation” by the AFU and cynically thanking the command for its execution.

As we have repeatedly pointed out, the use of high-tech Western weapons is impossible without the direct involvement of foreign specialists who ensure their operation and targeting, as well as without the provision of the necessary intelligence data by certain NATO countries.

❗️ Western handlers of Kiev bear full responsibility for the consequences of this strike, which resulted in civilian casualties.

It is obvious that, having completely lost itself in geopolitical games and seeking to assert itself as the informal leader of the European “hardliners” on the Ukrainian track and an irreconcilable opponent of Russia, Britain has stepped beyond the bounds of international law and is ready, through the hands of its puppets, to move the conflict to a fundamentally new level in terms of destruction and human casualties.

We also note that the use of British weapons systems is taking place amid intensified political and diplomatic efforts in the Russia-US-Ukraine trilateral format aimed at resolving the Ukrainian crisis.

The goal of London and other Western capitals is obvious – to derail the peace process through a large-scale provocation involving civilian casualties and trigger an escalation of hostilities. This tactic is not new and is used by the sponsors of the Kiev regime every time a real prospect for settlement emerges.

It is no coincidence that the timing of this attack coincides with signals from Washington, expressing hope that negotiations on the Ukrainian settlement have reached a “turning point” and that achieving peace is quite realistic.

☝️ We call on relevant international organisations – first and foremost the UN, whose leadership has been informed of the situation but has so far refrained from commenting – to provide an adequate assessment of yet another criminal act of the Kiev regime and its violation of the norms of international humanitarian law.

Silence will be perceived as nothing less than tacit complicity in the criminal actions of Zelensky and his handlers, who are intent on escalating the conflict.

❌ 10 марта боевики киевского режима нанесли очередной удар по Брянску. В результате семь человек погибли, сорок один получил ранения, из них девять – в крайне тяжёлом состоянии. За их жизнь борются врачи. Сегодня в городе объявлен день траура.

Решительно осуждаем эту террористическую атаку.

По заявлению киевского генштаба, удар был нанесён британскими крылатыми ракетами Storm Shadow. Они были произведены в Великобритании, оплачены британскими налогоплательщиками и переданы бандеровцам.

Операторы этих ракет прошли британскую подготовку, цели им указывала британская разведка. Очевидно, что без участия британских специалистов этот удар был бы невозможен.

Потому кровь жителей Брянска, включая детей – на руках британских военных, что делает Лондон соучастником военных преступлений и терактов неонацистского киевского режима.

#KievRegimeCrimes

💬 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

The Kiev regime deliberately struck the civilian population in Bryansk. The UN Secretariat, which regularly comments on the situation surrounding the Ukrainian crisis, cannot pretend not to see this. Nor can it ignore the number of civilians killed and wounded.

Russia’s Permanent Mission will certainly bring this information to the attention of the UN as well. Will the Secretary-General and his representatives once again remain silent?

***

💬 Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik:

The tragedy in Bryansk can only be qualified as a serious violation of the norms and principles of international humanitarian law. The Kiev regime resorted to this act in an attempt to draw the attention of its European patrons, who have become increasingly distracted by developments in the Middle East.

A missile strike on a location with a large concentration of civilians cannot be justified under any circumstances. Responsibility lies not only with the Ukrainian militants who committed the atrocity, but above all with the political leadership of the Kiev regime. Such strikes are not carried out without direct instructions from the top leadership.

Zelensky’s heinous act cannot remain without universal condemnation and a military response.

***

💬 Russian Commissioner for Human Rights, Tatiana Moskalkova:

I condemn yet another vile crime of the Nazi regime – barbaric strikes against the civilian population of Bryansk.

The regional authorities are doing everything possible to provide prompt assistance to the victims. My deepest condolences go to the families and loved ones of those killed. I wish a speedy recovery to all those injured.

I call on international organizations to respond firmly to this inhumane crime committed by the Kiev regime against civilians.

❌ On 10 March, militants of the Kiev regime carried out another strike on Bryansk. As a result, seven people were killed and forty-one were injured, nine of them in an extremely serious condition. Doctors are fighting for their lives. Today has been declared a day of mourning in the city.

We strongly condemn this terrorist attack.

According to a statement by Ukraine’s General Staff, the strike was carried out with British Storm Shadow cruise missiles. They were manufactured in the United Kingdom, funded by British taxpayers, and supplied to the Kiev regime.

The missile operators were trained in the UK, and their targets were provided by British intelligence. It is evident that such a strike would have been impossible without the involvement of UK specialists.

Therefore, the blood of the residents of Bryansk, including children, is therefore on the hands of the British military. This makes London complicit in the war crimes and terrorist acts of the neo-Nazi Kiev regime.

#Announcement

🗓 The International Security Forum held under the auspices of the Security Council of the Russian Federation is scheduled to take place on May 26-29, 2026, at the ‘Live Arena’ multifunctional complex and the ‘Patriot’ Central Park.

The Forum to feature the following events:

• the XIV International Meeting of High-Ranking Officials Responsible for Security Matters
• a variety of thematic sessions (scientific conferences, roundtables, briefings, presentations)
• bilateral and multilateral meetings
• exhibitions devoted to specific areas of activity of relevant Russian agencies and organizations

👉 The Forum's Core Events (.doc file)

More than 180 delegations from foreign states and international organizations have been invited to participate in the Forum.

Secretaries of security councils, national security advisors to heads of state, directors of law enforcement agencies and special services, and general secretaries of international organizations are expected to attend. Ambassadors of foreign states, representatives of the academia, and security experts will also participate in the event.

👉 Russian government agencies and ministries, organizations and companies featured at the Forum

Total number of participants is expected to be as high as 5,000 people.

Forum's working languages: Russian, Arabic, Chinese, English, Farsi, French, Serbian, and Spanish (simultaneous interpretation will be provided).

👉 Accreditation & registration for the Forum's participants (starts on March 17)
👉 Accreditation for media representatives

📺 Ambassador Andrei Kelin's interview with CNBC presenter Steve Sedgwick (13 March 2026)

Key talking points:

• The shelling of Iran must stop and negotiations must resume. This is an illegal war. It happened in the middle of negotiations [...] I cannot understand why everyone is blaming Iran and forgetting who originated the crisis. The crisis began with aggression against Iran by Israel and the US.

• The UK is leading, or at least pretending to lead, a coalition of the willing whose main objective is to destroy Russia or diminish its capabilities [...] Everything is targeted against Russia. The UK is very belligerent in that sense [...] I have never heard the UK government say anything about a peaceful settlement [of the Ukraine crisis] or the necessity of a diplomatic outcome.

• We very much support elections in Ukraine. They should take place because Zelensky has exceeded his term by nearly two years. We need someone who could sign a comprehensive [peace] agreement, and this person must be legitimate and elected by the Ukrainian people.

• We need an agreement that states that security in Europe is indivisible and equal for all. This will guarantee security not only for Ukraine, but also for Russia and other European countries.

• The West has been trying to suffocate and strangle Russia's economy [with sanctions]. It did not happen. We have reoriented our trade and economic efforts to the East. In fact, the sanctions did not force us to change our political goals. We are still following them.

• Russia stands for a multipolar world [...] The point is that we need to establish good-neighbourly relations and normal trade, economic and humanitarian relations among all countries in the world.

Watch the interview on our YouTube channel

🎙 Комментарий Посла России в Великобритании Андрея Келина по ситуации вокруг архипелага Чагос

💬 Обратил внимание на сегодняшнюю публикацию в Daily Telegraph «Россия поддерживает претензии Маврикия на архипелаг Чагос», в которой последовательная и многолетняя поддержка нашей страны антиколониальной борьбы народов за самоопределение подаётся чуть ли ни как новость.

Понимаю, чем вызвана такая отработка в прессе невыгодного для Лондона сюжета: для англосаксонского Запада небольшой атолл, откуда в 60-е и 70-е годы было принудительно изгнано местное население, на фоне агрессии против Ирана стал иметь сейчас принципиальное значение.

Напомню, что ещё в 2019 году Генеральная Ассамблея (резолюция 73/295) и Международный суд ООН потребовали от Британии вернуть архипелаг Маврикию «как можно скорее». Был установлен конкретный срок – полгода. Лондон этот срок проигнорировал.

Прошлогодний договор между Британией и Маврикием, подписанный в мае 2025 года, должен был урегулировать эту тему. Однако на деле его положения, по сути, игнорируют интересы коренных жителей архипелага, поскольку нормы договора прямо противоречат резолюции 73/295: они бессрочно запрещают возвращение жителей на остров Диего-Гарсия.

И даже такой договор не имплементируется в национальное законодательство Британии!

Местный политический истеблишмент, играя в парламентский процесс и юридическую казуистику, отказывается гарантировать своей колонии право на суверенитет.

❌ Лондон продолжает действовать в логике «бремени белого человека» и «пробкового шлема», лишая людей права на самое простое, а потому бесценное: возможности вернуться домой.

🗓 On March 13, UK Ambassador to Moscow Nigel Casey and French Ambassador to Moscow Nicolas de Rivière were summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry and issued a strong protest over the March 10 strike on Bryansk by Ukrainian militants using cruise missiles produced by the Franco-British company MBDA.

❗️ It was clearly stated during the démarche that the UK and France bear direct responsibility for this terrorist attack which killed seven people and injured more than 40.

It was emphasized that the missile strike on Bryansk would have been impossible without the participation of British and French specialists in its organisation, as well as the transfer of intelligence data to the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev.

It was underscored that if London and Paris continue to be complicit in the war crimes of the Kiev regime, responsibility for the destructive consequences of the armed conflict and the escalation of tensions will fall on Britain and France.

It was also stated that Moscow regards the shelling of Bryansk as a deliberate provocation aimed at undermining the stepped-up efforts towards peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.

The British and French were called upon to abandon these inhumane actions undertaken in pursuit of raising their political profile and to bring the “Ukrainian project” they sponsor back into the focus of the international agenda against the backdrop of the ongoing escalation in the Middle and Near East.

The Russian side also demanded that the UK and France issue a public response with a firm and unequivocal condemnation of the terrorist attack by the Ukrainian militants in Bryansk.

👉 Failure to do so will be regarded as solidarity with terrorist methods – something utterly disgraceful for countries that are permanent members of the UN Security Council.

🎙 Ambassador Andrei Kelin's comment on the situation surrounding Chagos Islands

💬 I have taken note of today's article in The Daily Telegraph, "Russia pushes Mauritius claim to Chagos Islands", in which our country's consistent and long-standing support for the anti-colonial struggle of peoples for self-determination is presented almost as if it were news.

One can understand what lies behind such media coverage of a story unfavourable to London: for the West, a small atoll from which the local population was forcibly expelled in the 1960s and 1970s has now acquired particular significance amid aggression against Iran.

Let me recall that, as far back as 2019, both the UN General Assembly (Resolution 73/295) and the International Court of Justice demanded that the UK return the archipelago to Mauritius "as rapidly as possible". A specific deadline was set — no more than six months. Yet London ignored it.

Last year's agreement between the UK and Mauritius, signed in May 2025, was intended to settle the matter. In practice, however, its provisions effectively disregard the interests of the archipelago's indigenous inhabitants, since the terms of the treaty directly contradict UNGA Resolution 73/295 by prohibiting residents from returning to Diego Garcia indefinitely.

Even such an agreement has not been implemented in British domestic law. The UK political establishment refuses to guarantee its colony the right to sovereignty, hiding behind parliamentary procedure and legal technicalities.

❌ London continues to act in the spirit of the "white man's burden" and the "pith helmet", denying people the most basic — and therefore most precious — right: the chance to return home.

🎙 Embassy comment on the profile of Defence Secretary John Healey published in New Statesman

💬 The New Statesman has published an extended profile of the UK Defence Secretary. We read it with interest, and with some care.

Mr Healey speaks of standing on "the new front line with Russia" in northernmost Norway. In this regard, we would wish to draw attention to a rather elementary fact. The United Kingdom is not an Arctic state [...]

What business a non-Arctic state has doubling its troop deployment in a region where it holds no territory, and then presenting that decision as a defensive necessity [...]

On the matter of Russian vessels, the Defence Secretary has raised concerns about their presence in British waters. Russian naval vessels transiting the English Channel and the North Sea do so in full accordance with UNCLOS, which explicitly provides for innocent passage through international straits. The right of innocent passage is a cornerstone of the international order that Britain professes to defend.

❗️ British presence close to Russian borders is far more malign. British military aircraft operating close to Russian airspace routinely conduct intelligence-gathering missions. The information is shared with Ukrainian forces. The use of Western long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russia requires detailed satellite reconnaissance, target designation and the technical input of specialists capable of integrating that data into complex weapons systems.

British personnel have been present in Ukraine to train, equip and advise Ukrainian units, while assisting with elements of operational planning and command support.

The question of how such activities fit with repeated assurances that the UK is not directly involved in the conflict remains, to put it mildly, unanswered [...]

The suggestion that Russia poses a direct threat to Britain serves a particular domestic purpose.

☝️ As the facts set out above make clear, it is Russian territory that is being struck, with British-supplied weapons and British-provided intel. To construct a political narrative from that inversion is a choice that places morality outside the bounds of political convenience – a tendency that has, regrettably, become something of a hallmark of British foreign and domestic discourse.

Read in full

📺 Excerpt from Ambassador Andrei Kelin's interview with CNBC (13 March 2026)

💬 The major question that has been put in front of Ukraine for many years, even before 2014, is whether it should choose [to align with] Russia or [with] the West.

This question has now become part and parcel of all politics towards Ukraine, and it has ruined Ukraine because it should not have to make such a choice.

It should either remain neutral or adopt the position stated in its constitution: neutrality and non-possession of nuclear weapons. That was Ukraine's initial stance.

But when the West began to pressure Ukraine with this question, [insisting it] abandon Russia and join the West, that was the beginning of the conflict.

Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel

🗓 14 марта в Манчестере состоялось очередное выездное консульское обслуживание российских граждан.

В ходе сессии более ста пятидесяти соотечественников имели возможность получить различные консульские услуги: оформить загранпаспорт, гражданство несовершеннолетним детям, нотариальные документы, акты о личной явке. Кроме того, консулы предоставили согражданам исчерпывающие информационно-разъяснительные консультации по широкому спектру консульских услуг.

Традиционно приоритетное внимание уделялось маломобильным гражданам, людям преклонного возраста и многодетным семьям.

Консульское обслуживание прошло в плодотворной и конструктивной атмосфере, о чем свидетельствуют многочисленные слова благодарности соотечественников в адрес сотрудников Посольства.

С учётом высокой востребованности таких мероприятий будем продолжать полезную практику выездов в различные регионы страны для оказания максимального содействия россиянам в получении консульских услуг.

🤦 Последние годы западные политики не устают твердить об «эффективности» санкций против России. В конце прошлого месяца Форин-офис заявил, что «экономика России стагнирует, а источники доходов стремительно сокращаются…»

Однако реальные данные рисуют совсем иную картину: санкции в первую очередь подрывают экономику самих инициаторов.

Согласно анализу макроэкономиста, старшего научного сотрудника Венгерского института международных отношений Филиппа Пилкингтона, санкции спровоцировали галопирующий рост цен на энергию именно в Европе: совокупные затраты на энергоносители для бизнеса и промышленных компаний в 2,5 раза выше, чем в США.

По данным британских властей, стоимость энергии увеличилась в 2–3 раза по сравнению с «досанкционным» периодом, а спровоцированный Лондоном и Брюсселем энергетический кризис, как подсчитано в исследовании британо-американского Transition Security Project, обошёлся Британии и ЕС в 1,8 трлн долларов США.

За последние четыре года Европа уже лишилась 5,4 миллиона рабочих мест, причём сектор услуг пострадал сильнее, чем промышленность. Потери ВВП оцениваются в 388,9 млрд евро, что составляет около 2% от ВВП. Кроме того, многие европейцы с трудом могут позволить себе полноценное отопление домов, оплату коммунальных счетов, что усугубляет кризис стоимости жизни.

Чувствительный удар в связи с недальновидной политикой Лондона приняли на себя британские компании, работавшие в России. Их ущерб оценивается в диапазоне 43–58 млрд фунтов стерлингов <...>

Наблюдая тревожную ситуацию на рынке энергоносителей, можно констатировать: ЕС и Британия приняли бы на себя гораздо меньший удар, если бы их лидеры не избрали деструктивный путь санкций.

☝️ При этом санкции не достигли своей цели: российская экономика остаётся устойчивой, в то время как ЕС и Британии грозит усугубление последствий деиндустриализации и падение уровня жизни населения.

В итоге санкционный «бумеранг» возвращается к своим инициаторам, подрывая конкурентоспособность Старого Света. Вместо того чтобы пересмотреть эту политику, западные лидеры продолжают её навязывать, жертвуя благосостоянием своих граждан.

Читайте полностью

🇷🇺 #CrimeaIsRussia

1️⃣2️⃣ years ago – on March 18, 2014 – President of Russia Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov, Chairman of the State Council of Crimea Vladimir Konstantinov and Head of Sevastopol Alexey Chaly signed the Agreement on the Accession of the Republic of Crimea in the Russian Federation and on Forming New Constituent Entities within the Russian Federation.

🗳 This historic moment was preceded by the all-Crimean referendum (March 16, 2014), in which an overwhelming majority of voters (96.77%) supported Crimea’s accession to the Russian Federation. In Sevastopol, 95.6% voted in favour of reunification with Russia.

The outcome of the referendum is an essence a just and long-awaited joint decision for both the people of Crimea and all citizens of our country.

🇷🇺 The long-awaited reunification of the peninsula with Russia became a milestone event in modern history – for Crimeans and for all citizens of our country – embodying the right of peoples to self-determination, as enshrined in the UN Charter.

Over the past 12 years, our opponents have made numerous attempts to punish Crimeans for their free choice – for their return to their home harbour. The residents of the peninsula have withstood not only water, energy, food and transport blockades, but also sanctions pressure and legal aggression unleashed by the Kiev regime with the support of NATO countries.

💬 Address by President of Russia Vladimir Putin (March 18, 2014):

“In the hearts and minds of people, Crimea has always been and remains an integral part of Russia. This conviction, grounded in truth and justice, has been unwavering – passed down from generation to generation – beyond the reach of time or circumstance.

The overwhelming majority of Crimeans and the absolute majority of citizens of the Russian Federation support the reunification of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol with the Russian Federation”.

Since reunification with the Russian Federation, life in Crimea has improved significantly. Transport and engineering infrastructure has been comprehensively modernized:

• In 2018, the Crimean Bridge was opened – a unique project and a powerful symbol of Crimea’s reunification with Russia;
• A new Simferopol International Airport and the modern Tavrida highway have been built;
• The Balaklavskaya (Sevastopol), Tavricheskaya (Simferopol district) and Saky thermal power plants have been commissioned, ensuring the peninsula’s energy independence;
• Large-scale construction of gas infrastructure, including the Krasnodar Territory-Crimea gas pipeline;
• Housing construction is expanding;
• Social infrastructure – including sports facilities – is being actively developed;
• Agriculture is growing, including winemaking, while the resort and tourism sector has significantly strengthened its position.

It is precisely these successes of Crimea and Sevastopol that provoke hostility, expressed in continued aggression by the Kiev regime and those backing it.

💬 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the 10th anniversary of the “Crimean Spring” (March 16, 2024):

“The question of who Crimea and Sevastopol belong to is closed.
The peninsula is an integral part of the Russian Federation”.

It can be stated with confidence that any attempts by adversaries to question Crimea’s status only underscore their detachment from reality – only cementing Crimeans’ confidence in their historic decision.

Russia and Crimea – one shared, indivisible destiny ❤️🇷🇺

#TogetherForever