❗️ Russian MFA Spox Maria Zakharova: Russia's Foreign Ministry hereby announces that a Note Verbale has been sent to all diplomatic missions accredited to the Ministry, as well as to missions of international organisations. The note reads as follows:

On May 4, 2026, the Defence Ministry of Russia released a statement in response to threats by the Kiev regime to carry out a strike on Moscow during Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War which is a holiday that is sacred to all Russians. The Foreign Ministry urgently calls on the government of your country/the leadership of your organisation to treat this statement with the utmost seriousness and to ensure the timely evacuation from the city of Kiev of the personnel of diplomatic and other missions, as well as civilians, in view of the inevitable retaliatory strike by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on Kiev, including against decision-making centres, should the Kiev regime carry out its criminal terrorist plans during the Victory Day celebrations.

Russian diplomatic missions abroad are also informing their host countries and international organisations of this.

Let us look back at how the events unfolded.

On May 4, during the European Political Community Summit in Yerevan, Kiev regime leader Zelensky went so far as to make aggressive and threatening statements about his intention to disrupt Moscow’s sacred Victory Day celebrations with terrorist attacks. He said this in the presence of representatives from a number of EU countries none of whom did anything to rein in the presumptuous Kiev regime leader.

On the same day, the Russian Defence Ministry issued a warning statement in response to Zelensky’s stated aggressive intentions. To reinforce my point, it was done in response to what Zelensky had said.

If EU countries believe they will be able to hush up those public threats and to sweep Zelensky’s aggressive statements under the carpet, they are gravely mistaken.

We are well aware of the collective Western minority’s attitude towards May 9. They are systematically destroying Soviet memorial legacy, exhuming the remains of Soviet soldiers, and rewriting and distorting history. As they continue to supply Ukraine with weapons, they are acting as accomplices in the criminal plans hatched by the Kiev regime.

☝️ However, the instinct for self-preservation should not fail them. We are not acting from a position of aggression; we are acting from a position of an inevitable response to aggression.

This is how the statement issued by the Defence Ministry on May 4 and our subsequent steps should be interpreted. It must certainly not be hushed up. It must be taken very, very seriously.

🇷🇺🇧🇾On the eve of the 81st anniversary of the Great Victory, Consul General of the Russian Federation in Edinburgh Denis Moskalenko and the Chargé d'Affaires of the Republic of Belarus in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Dmitry Kozlovsky, as well as Russian and Belorussian diplomats, our compatriots and Scottish public laid wreaths and flowers at the memorial in Dundee dedicated to the crew of the Soviet submarine B-1 commanded by the Hero of the Soviet Union, captain 2nd rank I.I.Fisanovich.

💬 The participants of the event emphasised in their speeches the enduring significance of joint efforts to preserve the memory of the heroism of Soviet people who sacrificed their lives to defeat Nazism.

🕯️The Dean of the diocesan district of Scotland, priest Alexander Menshikov, also served a funeral litia for the fallen seamen.

#Victory81

❌ London has announced yet another raft of illegitimate sanctions against Russia. It is clear that the impact of this hostile step, like those that preceded it, will go unnoticed in terms of the overall situation and, even more so, the course of the special military operation, despite the lofty rhetoric of the UK authorities.

Particular attention, however, is drawn to the wording used in the FCDO statement, namely the allegation that the Russian side is using recruited foreign migrants as “cannon fodder”.

It is worth recalling here that it is precisely London that continues to fuel the Ukraine conflict by providing the Kiev regime with money and weapons. The Ukrainian people are paying for such “assistance” with the lives of the most vulnerable and defenceless members of society.

Unlike those feeding off blood-soaked grants and loans, ordinary Ukrainians are in no position to buy their way out of the manhunts carried out by security forces in search for conscripts. As a result of forced mobilisation, they are thrown into the meat grinder of the Ukrainian armed forces. It is they who are the real “cannon fodder”.

🤦 Meanwhile, many corrupt Ukrainian officials have long since settled in London, cruising around the capital in luxury cars purchased at the expense of British taxpayers.

📺 Видеообращение Посла России в Великобритании Андрея Келина по случаю 81-й годовщины Победы в Великой Отечественной войне

💬 Уважаемые ветераны,
Дорогие соотечественники!

Праздник и торжества 9 мая не стираются с годами. Они не теряют своего света, озарившего Европу и весь мир в ту майскую весну сорок пятого года. Отмечая 81-ю годовщину Победы, мы помним, как широко праздновали прошлогодний юбилей. Но и наш нынешний, 2026 год, сам по себе несёт особое наследие памяти.

В этом году исполняется 85 лет с начала Великой Отечественной войны. И 80 лет со дня, когда в Нюрнберге был вынесен приговор главным нацистским преступникам. Между этими датами лежит путь от катастрофы к Победе и от Победы к правосудию. Это путь, который прошли наши отцы, деды и прадеды.

Мы победили в той войне, но Россия никогда не умаляла вклад союзников в Победу.

🤝 Мы помним героизм британских солдат, мужество моряков Северных конвоев. Этой весной из жизни ушёл Фрэнк Честер, старейший британский ветеран войны, служивший на корвете в составе конвоев и удостоенный креста «За выдающиеся заслуги». Живых свидетелей тех событий остаётся всё меньше. Но память о совместной борьбе наших народов закреплена в фактах, в документах, в решениях, которые определили послевоенное устройство мира.

Одно из таких важнейших решений – это приговор Нюрнбергского трибунала. Впервые в истории агрессивная война была признана тягчайшим международным преступлением, а идеология нацизма поставлена вне законов и морали. В развитие тех констатаций в этом году в России впервые отмечалась скорбная памятная дата – День памяти жертв геноцида советского народа, совершенного нацистской Германией и её пособниками.

Однако сегодня идеология нацизма реанимируется и в Германии, и в некоторых других государствах к Западу от России. Забвение уроков Нюрнберга ведёт к повторению того, от чего трибунал предостерегал. Но наши отцы, деды и прадеды знали: возмездие за преступление геноцида неизбежно, а враг будет разбит. И это поддерживало в них силы даже тогда, когда они были на исходе.

☝️ И наш долг перед выжившими и перед павшими: хранить правду, передавать её дальше. Чтобы каждое следующее поколение понимало, что стоит за датой 9 мая и какой ценой эта Победа была завоёвана.

Уверен, что истории, которые наши соотечественники здесь в Британии рассказывают своим детям – об их предках, о той страшной битве ради жизни на Земле, послужат этой цели. Посольство со своей стороны продолжит поддерживать всех, дорожащих связью с Родиной, помнящих о своих корнях. И, конечно, особо мы чтим ветеранов, живущих на территории Соединённого Королевства. Поздравляем их каждый год и говорим «Спасибо!».

С наступающим праздником, дорогие друзья! С Днём Великой Победы!

#Победа81

🎙 Ambassador Andrei Kelin's address on the occasion of the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945

💬 Dear veterans and compatriots,

The 9 May celebrations have not faded with the passing of the years. They still radiate the light that illuminated Europe and the rest of the world in the spring of 1945. As we mark the 81st anniversary of Victory, we recall the scale on which last year's jubilee was celebrated. Yet, 2026 has its own unique legacy of remembrance.

This year marks 85 years since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, and 80 years since the Nuremberg trials of the leading Nazi war criminals. Between these two dates lies a journey — from catastrophe to Victory, and from Victory to justice. It is the journey made by our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers.

We prevailed in that war, yet Russia has never diminished the contribution of the Allies to the common Victory.

🤝 We honour the heroism of the British soldiers and the courage of sailors who served on the Arctic convoys. Sadly, Frank Chester, the oldest British war veteran, passed away this spring. He served aboard a corvette in convoy operations and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Fewer and fewer living witnesses to those events remain. Yet, the memory of our peoples' shared struggle endures in historical records, official documents, and the decisions that shaped the post-war world order.

One of the most significant of those decisions was the Nuremberg Tribunal's verdict. For the first time in history, a war of aggression was recognised as the gravest international crime, and the ideology of Nazism was deemed illegal and immoral. Based on these findings, Russia this year marked for the first time the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People, perpetrated by Nazi Germany and its accomplices.

Today, however, Nazism is being revived both in Germany and certain other states to the west of Russia. Forgetting the Nuremberg’s lessons is to risk repeating precisely what the Tribunal sought to prevent. But our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers understood: retribution for genocide is inevitable, and that the enemy shall be defeated. That conviction sustained them even in their darkest hours.

☝️ Our duty – to both the survivors and the fallen – is to preserve the truth and pass it on. This will ensure that each succeeding generation understands what stands behind the date of 9 May, and the price paid for this Victory.

I am confident that the stories that our compatriots here in Britain tell their children – stories of their ancestors and of the terrible struggle fought for life on Earth itself – will serve this purpose. The Embassy will continue to support all those who cherish their ties with their Motherland and remember their roots. We pay particular tribute, of course, to the veterans living in the United Kingdom. Every year, we congratulate them and say: "Thank you".

Happy Victory Day, dear friends!

#Victory81