🏛 A new free display, The Wallace Collection at War, kicks off at the Wallace Collection in London on 15 April.
It explores how art, architecture and propaganda were mobilised in 1942 to reinforce Anglo-Soviet relations at a pivotal moment of the Second World War.
Drawing on newly revisited archives, it reconstructs two landmark exhibitions launched by Soviet Ambassador Ivan Maisky and his wife Agniya — Artists Aid Russia and Twenty-Five Years of Progress — revealing how cultural institutions were drawn into the broader political and humanitarian efforts.
Highlights include wartime posters, WWII-era photographs, and works depicting bombed London, Soviet soldiers and the devastation of conflict.
Visit Wallace Collection and #See4Yourself. The display runs until 25 October 2026.
It explores how art, architecture and propaganda were mobilised in 1942 to reinforce Anglo-Soviet relations at a pivotal moment of the Second World War.
Drawing on newly revisited archives, it reconstructs two landmark exhibitions launched by Soviet Ambassador Ivan Maisky and his wife Agniya — Artists Aid Russia and Twenty-Five Years of Progress — revealing how cultural institutions were drawn into the broader political and humanitarian efforts.
Highlights include wartime posters, WWII-era photographs, and works depicting bombed London, Soviet soldiers and the devastation of conflict.
Visit Wallace Collection and #See4Yourself. The display runs until 25 October 2026.
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📺 Watch Ambassador Andrei Kelin's interview with BBC Radio 4 presenter James Coomarasamy (16 April 2026)
Key topics:
• Current state and future of Russia–UK relations
• UK's threats to seize Russia-linked trade ships
• Peace negotiations on Ukraine
• European remilitarisation and security architecture
• Iran war and its geopolitical consequences
• Elections in Hungary
💬 Andrei Kelin: Sending 120,000 UK drones to the Kiev regime will only prolong the suffering in Ukraine and the war itself. This only proves that the UK does not want a settlement. It confirms our worst suspicions that European countries, especially the UK, which would like to play a leading role in these efforts, want to prolong the conflict rather than stop it [...]
Russia and Europe are very closely connected. If the Europeans do not encourage Ukraine to stand against Russia, there will be peace and an absence of tension in Europe for a long time. We can do this unless London continues to think in terms of deterrence with regard to Russia.
Watch the interview on our YouTube channel
Key topics:
• Current state and future of Russia–UK relations
• UK's threats to seize Russia-linked trade ships
• Peace negotiations on Ukraine
• European remilitarisation and security architecture
• Iran war and its geopolitical consequences
• Elections in Hungary
💬 Andrei Kelin: Sending 120,000 UK drones to the Kiev regime will only prolong the suffering in Ukraine and the war itself. This only proves that the UK does not want a settlement. It confirms our worst suspicions that European countries, especially the UK, which would like to play a leading role in these efforts, want to prolong the conflict rather than stop it [...]
Russia and Europe are very closely connected. If the Europeans do not encourage Ukraine to stand against Russia, there will be peace and an absence of tension in Europe for a long time. We can do this unless London continues to think in terms of deterrence with regard to Russia.
Watch the interview on our YouTube channel
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🕯 Russia marks today, for the first time, the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People — a memorial date established by presidential decree on 29 December 2025.
The choice of 19 April is deliberate: on this day in 1943, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued a decree formally recognising the systematic Nazi campaign to exterminate the civilian population of the USSR.
The term “genocide of the Soviet people” denotes a coordinated campaign of destruction carried out by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1941 and 1945.
Rooted in racial ideology and expansionist doctrine, plans such as Generalplan Ost envisaged the depopulation and colonisation of vast territories. Civilians were subjected to mass executions, starvation, forced labour and deportation, while entire communities were wiped out.
Historians estimate that some 13.7 million Soviet citizens perished as a direct result of these policies, with a further five million dying from a deliberately engineered famine. Jews, Roma, Slavs and others, labelled “subhuman” under the doctrine of Lebensraum, were targeted for total or partial annihilation.
19 April stands as both a memorial and a warning: that the consequences of ideology-driven violence, left unchallenged, reverberate far beyond their time.
#WeRemember
The choice of 19 April is deliberate: on this day in 1943, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet issued a decree formally recognising the systematic Nazi campaign to exterminate the civilian population of the USSR.
The term “genocide of the Soviet people” denotes a coordinated campaign of destruction carried out by Nazi Germany and its collaborators between 1941 and 1945.
Rooted in racial ideology and expansionist doctrine, plans such as Generalplan Ost envisaged the depopulation and colonisation of vast territories. Civilians were subjected to mass executions, starvation, forced labour and deportation, while entire communities were wiped out.
Historians estimate that some 13.7 million Soviet citizens perished as a direct result of these policies, with a further five million dying from a deliberately engineered famine. Jews, Roma, Slavs and others, labelled “subhuman” under the doctrine of Lebensraum, were targeted for total or partial annihilation.
19 April stands as both a memorial and a warning: that the consequences of ideology-driven violence, left unchallenged, reverberate far beyond their time.
Preserving the memory of millions of victims of the genocide of the Soviet people is our sacred duty. We will not allow these atrocities to be consigned to oblivion, no matter how hard those who today seek once again to steer Europe down the well-trodden path of racial superiority may try.
— Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
#WeRemember
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On 19 April, Frank Chester passed away at the age of 109.
He had served aboard a Royal Navy corvette on the Arctic convoys, running war supplies to the Soviet Union through the Barents Sea in conditions that Churchill described as the worst journey in the world. Storms, pack ice, enemy submarines and aircraft were there on every voyage.
In 2014, Russia awarded him the Medal of Ushakov, in recognition of the courage shown by the men who kept that lifeline open.
As we approach the 81st anniversary of Victory, the passing of Frank Chester is a reminder of how much we owe to those who sailed the Northern Route. They were young men from Shropshire and Worcestershire and dozens of other places, far from home, doing something extraordinary in the cold and dark for our common Victory.
Russia remembers them. We are grateful.
Rest in peace, Frank Chester.
He had served aboard a Royal Navy corvette on the Arctic convoys, running war supplies to the Soviet Union through the Barents Sea in conditions that Churchill described as the worst journey in the world. Storms, pack ice, enemy submarines and aircraft were there on every voyage.
In 2014, Russia awarded him the Medal of Ushakov, in recognition of the courage shown by the men who kept that lifeline open.
As we approach the 81st anniversary of Victory, the passing of Frank Chester is a reminder of how much we owe to those who sailed the Northern Route. They were young men from Shropshire and Worcestershire and dozens of other places, far from home, doing something extraordinary in the cold and dark for our common Victory.
Russia remembers them. We are grateful.
Rest in peace, Frank Chester.
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#Opinion
📰 Excerpt from an article by Astrid Barltrop, winner of the The Guardian Foundation’s 2026 Emerging Voices award, published in The Guardian.
💬 When British colonial history is studied, what is scrutinised and critiqued is not the principle of colonialism, but the efficiency with which the British colonised [...]
Our curricula sing tales of “great men” but are silent about the colonised. Twelve years after Michael Gove’s tenure as education secretary, we are still memorising the feats of imperial “heroes” rather than reading colonial history from reflective and inclusive perspectives – such as the perspectives of its victims.
Take, for example, my Edexcel module Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763-1914. When we A-level students learn about the 1857 Indian uprising, we study the “strengths” and “weaknesses” of British governor generals. Yet their role in orchestrating the 1770 great Bengal famine – killing 10 million people – is somehow absent from the specification.
Why do our history curricula still project selective amnesia? Fear of diminishing British identity? [...]
From the Balfour declaration to the great Irish famine, the legacies of British colonialism still reverberate across the world. Former colonies know far more of – and look far more critically on – our shared history than we do in Britain, as reactions to the queen’s death in 2022 across the Commonwealth highlighted [...]
It might be difficult to teach the British empire. It might be uncomfortable to shift focus from its “successes” to its human costs. There would surely be objection from the imperial nostalgists. But these are not good excuses for teaching ignorance [...]
Critical colonial history is urgently necessary – politically, socially and morally.
📰 Excerpt from an article by Astrid Barltrop, winner of the The Guardian Foundation’s 2026 Emerging Voices award, published in The Guardian.
💬 When British colonial history is studied, what is scrutinised and critiqued is not the principle of colonialism, but the efficiency with which the British colonised [...]
Our curricula sing tales of “great men” but are silent about the colonised. Twelve years after Michael Gove’s tenure as education secretary, we are still memorising the feats of imperial “heroes” rather than reading colonial history from reflective and inclusive perspectives – such as the perspectives of its victims.
Take, for example, my Edexcel module Britain: losing and gaining an empire, 1763-1914. When we A-level students learn about the 1857 Indian uprising, we study the “strengths” and “weaknesses” of British governor generals. Yet their role in orchestrating the 1770 great Bengal famine – killing 10 million people – is somehow absent from the specification.
Why do our history curricula still project selective amnesia? Fear of diminishing British identity? [...]
From the Balfour declaration to the great Irish famine, the legacies of British colonialism still reverberate across the world. Former colonies know far more of – and look far more critically on – our shared history than we do in Britain, as reactions to the queen’s death in 2022 across the Commonwealth highlighted [...]
It might be difficult to teach the British empire. It might be uncomfortable to shift focus from its “successes” to its human costs. There would surely be objection from the imperial nostalgists. But these are not good excuses for teaching ignorance [...]
Critical colonial history is urgently necessary – politically, socially and morally.
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Forwarded from Русские Мемориалы
#ВМФ🇷🇺 #Великобритания
20 апреля в Главном здании Российского Государственного архива Военно-морского флота #РГАВМФ состоялась церемония передачи данных о старейших русских воинских захоронениях в Великобритании, обнаруженных «Русским некрополем UK» и «Русскими мемориалами».
Руководители «Помним всех поименно» вручили директору РГАВМФ Валентину Смирнову копии церковных книг собора Св.Николая в г.Грейт-Ярмуте с записями имен русских воинов, похороненных в Англии.
▶️ ВИДЕО
Источником первоначальных сведений о наличии забытых и утраченных захоронений русских моряков и солдат на территории Великобритании периода первых антифранцузских коалиций стала книга историка флота И.Ю.Столярова «Не скажет ни камень, ни крест… Опыт военно-морского некрополя 1696-1917 гг. за рубежом Российской Империи».
Сверка списков с имеющейся в архиве информацией позволит начать оформление вновь обретенных русских могил в Англии и Шотландии в качестве воинских захоронений и установку мемориальных знаков.
👉 «Русские мемориалы»
20 апреля в Главном здании Российского Государственного архива Военно-морского флота #РГАВМФ состоялась церемония передачи данных о старейших русских воинских захоронениях в Великобритании, обнаруженных «Русским некрополем UK» и «Русскими мемориалами».
Руководители «Помним всех поименно» вручили директору РГАВМФ Валентину Смирнову копии церковных книг собора Св.Николая в г.Грейт-Ярмуте с записями имен русских воинов, похороненных в Англии.
▶️ ВИДЕО
Источником первоначальных сведений о наличии забытых и утраченных захоронений русских моряков и солдат на территории Великобритании периода первых антифранцузских коалиций стала книга историка флота И.Ю.Столярова «Не скажет ни камень, ни крест… Опыт военно-морского некрополя 1696-1917 гг. за рубежом Российской Империи».
Сверка списков с имеющейся в архиве информацией позволит начать оформление вновь обретенных русских могил в Англии и Шотландии в качестве воинских захоронений и установку мемориальных знаков.
👉 «Русские мемориалы»
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#Announcement
💐 As the 81st anniversary of Victory Day approaches, marking the end of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945 within the wider context of the Second World War, it offers a moment for quiet reflection. The courage and sacrifice of Soviet citizens and Allied nations brought one of humanity’s most devastating conflicts to a close.
One initiative associated with this commemorative date is the Immortal Regiment, established to honour those who experienced that wartime period. In support of this effort, activists from the Russian-speaking community have recently launched a digital platform, moypolk.uk, dedicated to preserving the legacy of all Second World War veterans.
It recognises both Soviet soldiers, whose descendants now live in the United Kingdom, and British servicemen and women who fought bravely against fascism. The archive already includes records of more than 900 veterans.
Members of the public are invited to contribute by sharing family histories, photographs, and details of wartime service. The platform also offers the option to take part in the Immortal Regiment march online.
Find out more
One initiative associated with this commemorative date is the Immortal Regiment, established to honour those who experienced that wartime period. In support of this effort, activists from the Russian-speaking community have recently launched a digital platform, moypolk.uk, dedicated to preserving the legacy of all Second World War veterans.
It recognises both Soviet soldiers, whose descendants now live in the United Kingdom, and British servicemen and women who fought bravely against fascism. The archive already includes records of more than 900 veterans.
Members of the public are invited to contribute by sharing family histories, photographs, and details of wartime service. The platform also offers the option to take part in the Immortal Regiment march online.
Find out more
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In 1984, the BBC aired 'Threads' – a film set in Sheffield that traced, with clinical precision, what a nuclear war would do to an ordinary city. Just the slow unravelling of everything: services, language, memory, and finally hope.
Two years later, Soviet director Konstantin Lopushansky, a student of Tarkovsky, released 'Dead Man's Letters'. A professor, played by Rolan Bykov, sits in a basement after a nuclear catastrophe, writing letters to his son who will never read them. The last gesture of a civilisation that chose not to survive.
One film was British. The other was Russian. They arrived at the same truth: there is nothing on the other side of a nuclear war. Only ash.
In the 1980s, BBC audiences understood this. For four decades it was the one thing London and Moscow agreed on completely.
☝️ The sane position remains unchanged: a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.
This Sunday, amid the warmongering rhetoric heard across the West, we recommend revisiting these two films. They have not aged.
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🇷🇺🇨🇳🏓 Russian and Chinese diplomatic missions in London mark the anniversary of strategic partnership with a table tennis match
On 29 April, staff of the Russian and Chinese embassies in London held a joint table tennis training session.
The sporting event was timed to coincide with important anniversaries in Russian-Chinese relations: the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation, and the 30th anniversary of the bilateral relationship being formally elevated to the status of "strategic interaction."
The event took place in a spirit of camaraderie and mutual support. It is precisely this spirit that today unites Russia and China in confronting shared challenges and in pursuing a consistent policy aimed at strengthening global and regional security.
On 29 April, staff of the Russian and Chinese embassies in London held a joint table tennis training session.
The sporting event was timed to coincide with important anniversaries in Russian-Chinese relations: the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Good-Neighbourliness, Friendship and Cooperation, and the 30th anniversary of the bilateral relationship being formally elevated to the status of "strategic interaction."
The event took place in a spirit of camaraderie and mutual support. It is precisely this spirit that today unites Russia and China in confronting shared challenges and in pursuing a consistent policy aimed at strengthening global and regional security.
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Forwarded from Генеральное консульство России в Эдинбурге
🇷🇺🏴 The library in the Scottish town of Airdrie recently opened an exhibition dedicated to one of the most touching chapters in the history of relations between the peoples of our countries: the "Scottish Album," which was sent by the women of that town to the residents of besieged Leningrad in the fall of 1941, and the "Leningrad Album," which was sent in return from the encircled "northern capital" to Scotland.
The exhibition features copies of two albums. The first contains handwritten messages of support, poems by Robert Burns, and drawings, as well as the signatures of several thousand female workers of plants and factories, members of communist organizations, and parishioners of churches in Airdrie and Coatbridge. The album, prepared over the course of two weeks, was handed over to the Soviet embassy in London and then shipped to Leningrad. In the besieged city, these words of support were read out loud at public meetings. The residents of Leningrad needed to know that even in distant Scotland, their heroic struggle and the trials they endured were not forgotten.
In early 1942, an album was created in response, containing watercolours and lithographs depicting Leningrad, words of gratitude and determination to confront the common enemy, and thousands of signatures from women of the city on the Neva. In 1943, the album arrived in Airdrie and became the centrepiece of the "Russia Week" exhibition.
Copies of the albums are available for viewing by appointment. The exhibition also features archival materials about the creation of the "Scottish Album" and events held in the region during those years to raise funds to support the Soviet Union fighting fascism, as well as the book "Immortal Regiment" featuring memoirs by St. Petersburg schoolchildren about their great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers who heroically defended our homeland.
🤝 On the eve of Victory Day, Consul General of Russia in Edinburgh Denis Moskalenko and his wife visited the exhibition and thanked the staff of the Airdrie Library for their contribution to preserving the memory of the heroism of the residents of besieged Leningrad and the joint struggle of our peoples against Nazism during World War II.
#Victory81
The exhibition features copies of two albums. The first contains handwritten messages of support, poems by Robert Burns, and drawings, as well as the signatures of several thousand female workers of plants and factories, members of communist organizations, and parishioners of churches in Airdrie and Coatbridge. The album, prepared over the course of two weeks, was handed over to the Soviet embassy in London and then shipped to Leningrad. In the besieged city, these words of support were read out loud at public meetings. The residents of Leningrad needed to know that even in distant Scotland, their heroic struggle and the trials they endured were not forgotten.
In early 1942, an album was created in response, containing watercolours and lithographs depicting Leningrad, words of gratitude and determination to confront the common enemy, and thousands of signatures from women of the city on the Neva. In 1943, the album arrived in Airdrie and became the centrepiece of the "Russia Week" exhibition.
Copies of the albums are available for viewing by appointment. The exhibition also features archival materials about the creation of the "Scottish Album" and events held in the region during those years to raise funds to support the Soviet Union fighting fascism, as well as the book "Immortal Regiment" featuring memoirs by St. Petersburg schoolchildren about their great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers who heroically defended our homeland.
🤝 On the eve of Victory Day, Consul General of Russia in Edinburgh Denis Moskalenko and his wife visited the exhibition and thanked the staff of the Airdrie Library for their contribution to preserving the memory of the heroism of the residents of besieged Leningrad and the joint struggle of our peoples against Nazism during World War II.
#Victory81
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