Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🗓 On September 26, the 12th St Petersburg International United Cultures Forum concluded at the State Hermitage Museum. The Forum became a major event dedicated to promoting intercultural dialogue and strengthening understanding between countries and peoples, while preserving their linguistic, cultural and spiritual identities.
The Forum brought together 4,500 participants, including 45 official delegations, with representatives from 73 countries. Delegations from more than 10 countries were led by their Ministers of Culture.
💬 The Forum’s central event was an address by President of Russia Vladimir Putin:
👉 Read the full transcript of President Putin’s address to the Forum
The Forum featured 84 events across ten thematic tracks, covering museums, theatre, music, film, cultural sovereignty, education, artificial intelligence and other subjects.
✍️ Participants signed 33 agreements to develop cooperation in culture, museums, theatre, education and the preservation of cultural heritage.
Plans were set in motion to develop a concept for theatre development through 2035 and expand cooperation with professional associations in Vietnam, Arab countries and Iran. Russia also signed a number of bilateral documents with friendly countries.
💬 Russia’s Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova:
#UnitedCulturesForum
The Forum brought together 4,500 participants, including 45 official delegations, with representatives from 73 countries. Delegations from more than 10 countries were led by their Ministers of Culture.
💬 The Forum’s central event was an address by President of Russia Vladimir Putin:
Culture can build bridges between people. It is a vital and irreplaceable means of communication and dialogue where political and economic ties have been frozen or brought to a halt by disagreements, sanctions and restrictions.
Russia has historically developed as a crossroads of peoples, languages and traditions. For us, unity means solidarity built on nurturing the distinct identity and development of every people and ethnic group.
Culture plays a key role in this process, just as it does in our complex world, with its conflicts, profound technological and social transformations, and competition between countries.
👉 Read the full transcript of President Putin’s address to the Forum
The Forum featured 84 events across ten thematic tracks, covering museums, theatre, music, film, cultural sovereignty, education, artificial intelligence and other subjects.
✍️ Participants signed 33 agreements to develop cooperation in culture, museums, theatre, education and the preservation of cultural heritage.
Plans were set in motion to develop a concept for theatre development through 2035 and expand cooperation with professional associations in Vietnam, Arab countries and Iran. Russia also signed a number of bilateral documents with friendly countries.
💬 Russia’s Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova:
Once again, our Forum has confirmed its standing as a respected platform for open and free dialogue, bringing together representatives of different countries, peoples and cultures around a common goal: identifying the challenges facing world culture and finding ways to address them.
#UnitedCulturesForum
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☝️ We have noted an article in The i Paper on Kaliningrad, which suggests, among other things, that NATO could blockade the region or “de-recognise Russian sovereignty”. The prospect of a hypothetical strike is also explored in Sky News’ recent mini-series The Wargame.
Those advocating plans to blockade or strike Kaliningrad should have no illusions about the consequences. Any British or NATO military action against Russian territory would be met with a response using all means at Russia’s disposal, including nuclear weapons.
Russia has repeatedly made clear that it neither seeks confrontation with NATO and Europe nor intends to attack them. But should anyone choose to unleash such a conflict, they must be under no illusion that Russia will respond accordingly.
Those advocating plans to blockade or strike Kaliningrad should have no illusions about the consequences. Any British or NATO military action against Russian territory would be met with a response using all means at Russia’s disposal, including nuclear weapons.
Russia has repeatedly made clear that it neither seeks confrontation with NATO and Europe nor intends to attack them. But should anyone choose to unleash such a conflict, they must be under no illusion that Russia will respond accordingly.
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🎙 Highlights from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's statement at the General Debate of the 81st Session of the UN General Assembly (New York, 26 September 2026)
• The Western minority, which has dominated for five centuries by exploiting the resources of others, persists in its attempts to retain its privileges and impose its “rules” on everyone else. The West increasingly resorts to the use of brute force, acts unpredictably and recklessly, and jeopardises the lives and well-being of millions – if not billions – of people on our shared planet.
• For the sake of the utopian goal of containing Russia, the West has destroyed the European security system with its own hands and nurtured the Russophobic regime in Kiev. Now, realising the futility of their efforts, Europe is doing everything to prevent a peaceful settlement and to derail negotiations – a process many are interested in, including the Trump administration.
• The West continues the endless flow of weapons into Ukraine and helps the regime target drones and missiles at civilians and civilian infrastructure.
• The Ukrainian regime is openly overriding such cornerstones of the UN Charter as respecting human rights and freedoms for all with no discrimination as to race, gender, language or religion. There is no other country in the world but Ukraine where the law prohibits a language.
• It is only possible to secure a lasting peace by ending the dangerous rivalry between the largest global players. We can only achieve this by strictly adhering to the UN Charter and the principle of equal and indivisible security. Let me remind you that this principle means refraining from ensuring the security of one state at the expense of others; that it is unacceptable for any country or a group of countries or an organisation to claim dominance in security. This mainly applies to NATO, which seeks to spread its destructive influence far beyond the geography of its domain.
Read in full
• The Western minority, which has dominated for five centuries by exploiting the resources of others, persists in its attempts to retain its privileges and impose its “rules” on everyone else. The West increasingly resorts to the use of brute force, acts unpredictably and recklessly, and jeopardises the lives and well-being of millions – if not billions – of people on our shared planet.
• For the sake of the utopian goal of containing Russia, the West has destroyed the European security system with its own hands and nurtured the Russophobic regime in Kiev. Now, realising the futility of their efforts, Europe is doing everything to prevent a peaceful settlement and to derail negotiations – a process many are interested in, including the Trump administration.
• The West continues the endless flow of weapons into Ukraine and helps the regime target drones and missiles at civilians and civilian infrastructure.
• The Ukrainian regime is openly overriding such cornerstones of the UN Charter as respecting human rights and freedoms for all with no discrimination as to race, gender, language or religion. There is no other country in the world but Ukraine where the law prohibits a language.
• It is only possible to secure a lasting peace by ending the dangerous rivalry between the largest global players. We can only achieve this by strictly adhering to the UN Charter and the principle of equal and indivisible security. Let me remind you that this principle means refraining from ensuring the security of one state at the expense of others; that it is unacceptable for any country or a group of countries or an organisation to claim dominance in security. This mainly applies to NATO, which seeks to spread its destructive influence far beyond the geography of its domain.
Read in full
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Media is too big
VIEW IN TELEGRAM
🎙 Excerpt from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks to the media following the 23rd meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club (Moscow Region, 29 September 2026)
❓ Question: We hear Russia and the West accuse each other. The West is increasingly accusing Russia of waging hybrid warfare against European countries. You recently accused the West of resorting to brute force. Do you acknowledge that Russia is waging a covert hybrid war against European countries? If so, to what end?
💬 Sergey Lavrov: Are you talking about us destroying drones and missiles that Britain and continental Europe supply to Ukraine, which it then fires at us? Is that what you are talking about?
❓ Question: This may be one example of what I’m talking about.
💬 Sergey Lavrov: If you acknowledge that your weapons are being used to attack us, and we shoot them down, call it whatever you like. I have no doubt, though, that this is a war that Europe is waging against us. We’ve been making this point for a long time now.
❓ Question: What about brute force? You accuse the West of resorting to brute force.
💬 Sergey Lavrov: I do not remember ever using the collocation “brute force.”
❓ Question: You said not long ago that the West resorts to brute force.
💬 Sergey Lavrov: Was what they did in Venezuela soft power or brute force? What they did to the Nord Stream pipelines was that soft power or brute force? Bombing and destroying the Iranian leadership and their families, including children, was that brute force or not?
❓ Question: Does Russia not resort to brute force in Ukraine on a daily basis?
💬 Sergey Lavrov: If you mean destroying the infrastructure that is being used by the Nazi regime, with Western support, to wage war against the Russian Federation, then we do resort to brute force to suppress direct threat.
❓ Question: We hear Russia and the West accuse each other. The West is increasingly accusing Russia of waging hybrid warfare against European countries. You recently accused the West of resorting to brute force. Do you acknowledge that Russia is waging a covert hybrid war against European countries? If so, to what end?
💬 Sergey Lavrov: Are you talking about us destroying drones and missiles that Britain and continental Europe supply to Ukraine, which it then fires at us? Is that what you are talking about?
❓ Question: This may be one example of what I’m talking about.
💬 Sergey Lavrov: If you acknowledge that your weapons are being used to attack us, and we shoot them down, call it whatever you like. I have no doubt, though, that this is a war that Europe is waging against us. We’ve been making this point for a long time now.
❓ Question: What about brute force? You accuse the West of resorting to brute force.
💬 Sergey Lavrov: I do not remember ever using the collocation “brute force.”
❓ Question: You said not long ago that the West resorts to brute force.
💬 Sergey Lavrov: Was what they did in Venezuela soft power or brute force? What they did to the Nord Stream pipelines was that soft power or brute force? Bombing and destroying the Iranian leadership and their families, including children, was that brute force or not?
❓ Question: Does Russia not resort to brute force in Ukraine on a daily basis?
💬 Sergey Lavrov: If you mean destroying the infrastructure that is being used by the Nazi regime, with Western support, to wage war against the Russian Federation, then we do resort to brute force to suppress direct threat.
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Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🗓 On September 30, 2022, following referendums, the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions officially became part of the Russian Federation.
✍️ Looking back at #HowItHappened (Signing of the treaties on the accession of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Russia)
In the referendums held on September 23-27, 2022, residents of the four regions made a historic decision that determined their future. International observers from Italy, Germany, Venezuela, Latvia and other countries (133 in total) who monitored the voting recognised the results as legitimate.
In 2014, the Kiev regime unleashed full-scale hostilities against the civilian population of Donbass, while neo-Nazis and radicals intimidated and attacked people in Zaporozhye and other regions as well. For eight long years, people endured relentless shelling, terrorist attacks and persecution.
Despite shelling and numerous provocations by the Kiev regime, people went to the polls and expressed their will.
🗳 Four years ago, the people voted in favour of joining Russia:
• DPR – 99.23%, with a turnout of 97.5%;
• LPR – 98.42%, with a turnout of 92.6%;
• Zaporozhye Region – 93.11%, with a turnout of 85.4%;
• Kherson Region – 87.05%, with a turnout of 76.9%.
Behind these figures are the lives of millions of people and their hopes for safety, for the freedom to speak their native language, to honour their ancestors – true heroes of the Great Patriotic War (instead of Hitler’s henchmen) – to preserve their culture and raise their children without fearing for their lives.
❗️ Russia’s position remains unchanged: the people of Donbass and Novorossiya exercised their legitimate right to self-determination, enshrined in the UN Charter, the 1966 International Covenants on Human Rights and the 1975 CSCE Helsinki Final Act.
💬 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s address at the General Debate of #UNGA81 (New York, September 26, 2026):
And we will do this #TOGETHER.
✍️ Looking back at #HowItHappened (Signing of the treaties on the accession of the DPR, LPR, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to Russia)
In the referendums held on September 23-27, 2022, residents of the four regions made a historic decision that determined their future. International observers from Italy, Germany, Venezuela, Latvia and other countries (133 in total) who monitored the voting recognised the results as legitimate.
In 2014, the Kiev regime unleashed full-scale hostilities against the civilian population of Donbass, while neo-Nazis and radicals intimidated and attacked people in Zaporozhye and other regions as well. For eight long years, people endured relentless shelling, terrorist attacks and persecution.
Despite shelling and numerous provocations by the Kiev regime, people went to the polls and expressed their will.
🗳 Four years ago, the people voted in favour of joining Russia:
• DPR – 99.23%, with a turnout of 97.5%;
• LPR – 98.42%, with a turnout of 92.6%;
• Zaporozhye Region – 93.11%, with a turnout of 85.4%;
• Kherson Region – 87.05%, with a turnout of 76.9%.
Behind these figures are the lives of millions of people and their hopes for safety, for the freedom to speak their native language, to honour their ancestors – true heroes of the Great Patriotic War (instead of Hitler’s henchmen) – to preserve their culture and raise their children without fearing for their lives.
❗️ Russia’s position remains unchanged: the people of Donbass and Novorossiya exercised their legitimate right to self-determination, enshrined in the UN Charter, the 1966 International Covenants on Human Rights and the 1975 CSCE Helsinki Final Act.
💬 Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s address at the General Debate of #UNGA81 (New York, September 26, 2026):
Having launched the special military operation in 2022 to protect the people of Donbass and Novorossiya from extermination by the Kiev regime, Russia continues to fight for their security and rights in full accordance with the letter and spirit of the UN Charter.
Our struggle for truth and justice will be carried through to the end: the objectives of the special military operation will be achieved, threats to Russia’s security will be eliminated, and peaceful life will be restored.
And we will do this #TOGETHER.
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🎙 Excerpt from President Vladimir Putin's address at the first meeting of the ninth State Duma
💬 The State Duma's first meeting is taking place on a significant date: exactly four years ago, the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions became full-fledged constituent entities of the Russian Federation, reuniting with Greater Russia.
I am pleased to congratulate all citizens of our country on Unification Day. This holiday embodies our people’s unwavering aspiration to restore historical unity and the righteous struggle of the Russian people, our entire nation and the people of Donbass and Novorossiya for freedom and justice.
It commemorates the heroic deeds of the 2014 militias and the heroes of the special military operation who stood up to defend the Motherland and our people. The will and dreams of our brothers and sisters – our compatriots – who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Despite the most challenging conditions close to the front line, millions of people took part in referendums, and I would like to emphasise that they did so in strict compliance with international law. Their choice was absolutely clear and unequivocal: to reunite with Russia and its people.
Today, we are fighting together, and together we are rebuilding and reviving Donbass and Novorossiya.
Read in full
💬 The State Duma's first meeting is taking place on a significant date: exactly four years ago, the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions became full-fledged constituent entities of the Russian Federation, reuniting with Greater Russia.
I am pleased to congratulate all citizens of our country on Unification Day. This holiday embodies our people’s unwavering aspiration to restore historical unity and the righteous struggle of the Russian people, our entire nation and the people of Donbass and Novorossiya for freedom and justice.
It commemorates the heroic deeds of the 2014 militias and the heroes of the special military operation who stood up to defend the Motherland and our people. The will and dreams of our brothers and sisters – our compatriots – who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Despite the most challenging conditions close to the front line, millions of people took part in referendums, and I would like to emphasise that they did so in strict compliance with international law. Their choice was absolutely clear and unequivocal: to reunite with Russia and its people.
Today, we are fighting together, and together we are rebuilding and reviving Donbass and Novorossiya.
Read in full
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Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
#Victory81
8️⃣5️⃣ years ago, on 30 September 1941, the #BattleOfMoscow commenced — the largest defensive operation carried out by the Red Army during the initial stage of the #GreatPatrioticWar to defend the capital of our Motherland against the Nazi invaders.
The Nazi troops, which sought to seize the city within the shortest possible timeframe, were completely destroyed by the Red Army.
One of the key battles of #WW2 ended in a major and decisive victory for our people. Despite their considerable superiority in manpower and military hardware, the Nazi invaders suffered a crushing defeat, which played a major role in paving the way for the eventual collapse of the Third Reich.
❗️ It was precisely near Moscow that the myth of the invincibility of the Nazi war machine was shattered once and for all.
Hitler’s blitzkrieg strategy, which had previously been successfully employed by the aggressor in the occupation of a number of European countries (Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Belgium), completely failed on the Soviet soil.
***
By the end of September 1941, the Nazis had occupied the entire Baltic region, Belarus and Moldova, as well as large parts of Soviet Ukraine; they had sieged Leningrad and reached the approaches to Moscow. Given the strategic and political importance of the Soviet capital, Hitler committed a powerful force — 1.8 million Wehrmacht soldiers and officers, 1,700 tanks and around 1,000 aircraft. The Nazi command planned to seize Moscow within the first three to four months and completely destroy its population.
The situation on the Eastern Front in September 1941 was extremely difficult. Nazi troops attacked Red Army positions along several axes simultaneously. In just two days, Guderian’s tank group advanced 80 kilometres, breaking through the front and encircling a considerable number of Red Army units in the areas of Bryansk and Vyazma.
In these circumstances, a state of siege in Moscow and the surrounding areas was put in effect. Preparations for urban combat were intensified throughout the city, while key government and industrial facilities were mined. Ordinary residents of Moscow and cadets of military schools joined Red Army personnel in defending the city. For two weeks, Soviet troops held back around twenty Nazi divisions in fierce fighting, making it possible to strengthen the defensive line and bring reserve forces up to Moscow.
❗️ During #WW2, no other capital had yet put up such determined resistance to Nazism.
In early December, when the Wehrmacht’s forces had been exhausted, the Red Army was able to launch a counter-offensive. The formations of the Western, Kalinin and Southwestern Fronts routed the strike groups of the enemy’s Army Group Centre. German hordes were pushed back 100–350 kilometres from the capital, and the Moscow, Tula, Kalinin and Ryazan regions were completely liberated from the enemy.
It was near Moscow that Hitler suffered his first major defeat of the Second World War.
Around one million defenders of the capital of our Motherland were awarded the Medal “For the Defence of Moscow”, while 110 people were awarded the title of #HeroOfTheSovietUnion.
🎖 In May 1965, on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Victory, Moscow was awarded the honorary title of #HeroCity.
#WeRemember #OurVictory
8️⃣5️⃣ years ago, on 30 September 1941, the #BattleOfMoscow commenced — the largest defensive operation carried out by the Red Army during the initial stage of the #GreatPatrioticWar to defend the capital of our Motherland against the Nazi invaders.
The Nazi troops, which sought to seize the city within the shortest possible timeframe, were completely destroyed by the Red Army.
One of the key battles of #WW2 ended in a major and decisive victory for our people. Despite their considerable superiority in manpower and military hardware, the Nazi invaders suffered a crushing defeat, which played a major role in paving the way for the eventual collapse of the Third Reich.
❗️ It was precisely near Moscow that the myth of the invincibility of the Nazi war machine was shattered once and for all.
Hitler’s blitzkrieg strategy, which had previously been successfully employed by the aggressor in the occupation of a number of European countries (Poland, Denmark, the Netherlands, France and Belgium), completely failed on the Soviet soil.
***
By the end of September 1941, the Nazis had occupied the entire Baltic region, Belarus and Moldova, as well as large parts of Soviet Ukraine; they had sieged Leningrad and reached the approaches to Moscow. Given the strategic and political importance of the Soviet capital, Hitler committed a powerful force — 1.8 million Wehrmacht soldiers and officers, 1,700 tanks and around 1,000 aircraft. The Nazi command planned to seize Moscow within the first three to four months and completely destroy its population.
The situation on the Eastern Front in September 1941 was extremely difficult. Nazi troops attacked Red Army positions along several axes simultaneously. In just two days, Guderian’s tank group advanced 80 kilometres, breaking through the front and encircling a considerable number of Red Army units in the areas of Bryansk and Vyazma.
In these circumstances, a state of siege in Moscow and the surrounding areas was put in effect. Preparations for urban combat were intensified throughout the city, while key government and industrial facilities were mined. Ordinary residents of Moscow and cadets of military schools joined Red Army personnel in defending the city. For two weeks, Soviet troops held back around twenty Nazi divisions in fierce fighting, making it possible to strengthen the defensive line and bring reserve forces up to Moscow.
❗️ During #WW2, no other capital had yet put up such determined resistance to Nazism.
In early December, when the Wehrmacht’s forces had been exhausted, the Red Army was able to launch a counter-offensive. The formations of the Western, Kalinin and Southwestern Fronts routed the strike groups of the enemy’s Army Group Centre. German hordes were pushed back 100–350 kilometres from the capital, and the Moscow, Tula, Kalinin and Ryazan regions were completely liberated from the enemy.
It was near Moscow that Hitler suffered his first major defeat of the Second World War.
Around one million defenders of the capital of our Motherland were awarded the Medal “For the Defence of Moscow”, while 110 people were awarded the title of #HeroOfTheSovietUnion.
🎖 In May 1965, on the occasion of the 20th Anniversary of the Victory, Moscow was awarded the honorary title of #HeroCity.
#WeRemember #OurVictory
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💬 Russian MFA Spox Maria Zakharova: Europe has set a course for total militarisation.
The size of its armed forces is being increased, while defence spending by NATO member states bordering Russia is reaching unprecedented levels. The Alliance's military infrastructure is being expanded. New defence industry facilities are being built, while civilian innovations and dual-use technologies are being integrated into the defence sector, all at an accelerated pace.
Aggressive military exercises by NATO member states are being held in close vicinity of our borders, involving the rehearsal of offensive scenarios against our country. These include a possible blockade of the Kaliningrad Region, the isolation of Russian ports in the Baltic, and the deployment of NATO troops through the Suwałki Gap.
Close cooperation has been established with Ukraine in order to adopt its experience of real combat operations against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Some European leaders allow themselves to muse publicly about the possibility of "razing Russian air defence and missile bases to the ground" in the Kaliningrad Region.
Certain EU countries bordering Russia flaunt their readiness to host nuclear weapons on their territory and are making corresponding changes to their national legislation [...]
Russia poses no threat to European nations and has no intention of doing so. However, there should be no doubt that Russia has all the means necessary to prevent any aggression and defeat any aggressor.
❗️ If Europe attacks Russia, it will be a very different kind of war – and a very short one.
Read in full
The size of its armed forces is being increased, while defence spending by NATO member states bordering Russia is reaching unprecedented levels. The Alliance's military infrastructure is being expanded. New defence industry facilities are being built, while civilian innovations and dual-use technologies are being integrated into the defence sector, all at an accelerated pace.
Aggressive military exercises by NATO member states are being held in close vicinity of our borders, involving the rehearsal of offensive scenarios against our country. These include a possible blockade of the Kaliningrad Region, the isolation of Russian ports in the Baltic, and the deployment of NATO troops through the Suwałki Gap.
Close cooperation has been established with Ukraine in order to adopt its experience of real combat operations against the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Some European leaders allow themselves to muse publicly about the possibility of "razing Russian air defence and missile bases to the ground" in the Kaliningrad Region.
Certain EU countries bordering Russia flaunt their readiness to host nuclear weapons on their territory and are making corresponding changes to their national legislation [...]
Russia poses no threat to European nations and has no intention of doing so. However, there should be no doubt that Russia has all the means necessary to prevent any aggression and defeat any aggressor.
❗️ If Europe attacks Russia, it will be a very different kind of war – and a very short one.
Read in full
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