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Official channel for the Russian Embassy in the Republic of South Africa - Latest foreign policy, cultural, economic news. We take digital diplomacy seriously, share information on all things Russia-related
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⭐️ #OTD in 1943, Operation #Ring commenced – the last part of the epic Battle of #Stalingrad.

The Red Army encircled the remaining Axis forces, making 24 #Nazi generals surrender.

⚔️ The deadliest battle in history resulted in a decisive Soviet victory.

#RussianHistory #WWII #Victory78
📆 #OTD, on 15 February Russia observes the Day of Memory of the Russians who performed their duty outside the Fatherland or Day of Memory of Warriors-Internationalists.

🌟 It was established to commemorate all Russian/Soviet servicemen who participated in armed conflicts outside the country including those in Southern Africa.

☝️ In order to support the liberation struggle of the peoples of Southern Africa, in 1970s – early 1990s, about 14.000 Soviet military specialists were deployed in Angola and Mozambique, who were involved in organizing army and training African militaries.

🇿🇦 South Africa remembers Soviet contribution to the liberation struggle.

🕯 The names of 67 Soviet officers who helped fight apartheid regime are engraved on the Wall in “Freedom Park”.

Annually in December, a floral tribute ceremony is held on the site to provide people in South Africa, especially youngsters, with information about the deeds of their ancestors.

#Russia #SouthAfrica #SharedHistory #HistoryofRussia #RussianHistory
📆 #OTD, 163 years ago, one of the most significant reforms in Russia’s modern history was carried out.

✍️ On 19 February 1861, serfdom was abolished in Russia by Alexander II’s Emancipation Edict.

The history of serfdom in Russia began in 1649, when Tsar Aleksey Mikhailovich issued a decree that prohibited peasants from leaving their lands.

☝️ According, to historians, Russian serfdom as a type of feudal dependence was closer to French “servage” or British “villeinship” rather than to outright slavery.

Gradually, the serfdom turned into a major social evil and an impediment to the growth of labour productivity.

👉 Russia’s defeat in the Crimean War (1853-1856) exposed all the drawbacks of Russian industry, economy and agriculture, and served as a trigger for Alexander’s II reforms.

It should be noted that first steps towards the relief of serfdom pressure were made already under Paul I and Alexander I.

#RussianHistory
📆 541 years ago, on 30 April 1472, the Assumption (Dormition) Cathedral in Moscow was founded, which became a place of crucial importance for Russian identity. Its origins date back to the XIV century, and are closely connected with the rise of the Moscow Principality of Russia.

In 1326, the leading Russian church prelate, Metropolitan Peter of Vladimir, made the Moscow Kremlin his de facto residence. Concurrently, Great Prince Ivan Kalita launched the construction of the cathedral dedicated to the Feast of the Dormition, which symbolized the continuity with the great Dormition Cathedral in the town of Vladimir (the latter started to lose its political significance).

⛪️ By the mid-XV century the cathedral dilapidated and Great Prince of Russia Ivan III, who had consolidated all Russian principalities under the power of Moscow ordered the construction of a new one. A renowned architect Aristotele Fioravanti of Bologna was invited to Russia to design and to build it.

👑 For 6 centuries the Cathedral was national and religious centre of Russia. It is known as the place of coronation of Russian rulers (even after the capital was relocated to St.Petersburg) including the first and the last Russian Tsars from the Romanov dynasty.

Take a virtual tour of the Assumption Cathedral, Russia’s most elevated monument, at the link.

#RussianHistory
📆 118 years ago, on 6 May 1906, Russian emperor Nikolay II approved the new edition of “Fundamental Laws of the Russian Empire”, virtually the first Russian constitution, consisting of 2 sections, 17 chapters and 223 articles.

Social and political unrest in Russia was fueled by the defeat in Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905) which resulted in the Russian Revolution of 1905. Emperor Nikolay II had to respond to increasing calls for reforms in order to calm down the situation in the country.

📖 The new constitution provided for a bicameral Russian parliament composed of an upper house, known as the State Council, and a lower house, known as the State Duma.

☝️ It also legislated the official language of the Russian Empire, the essence of the supreme power, the procedure of law-making, rights and duties of Russian citizens, etc.

#RussianHistory
📅Today Russia’s Baltic Fleet marks its 321st anniversary.

🛳 It is considered one of the oldest Russian Navy formations. #OTD in 1703, during the Great Northern War against Sweden (1700-1721) Russian flotilla under the command of Peter I (the Great) won its first victory over Swedish ships in the battle in the Neva delta. All the participants of the battle were awarded medals saying “the impossible is possible.”

⚔️The fleet valiantly defended the Baltic coast during the Crimean War (1853-1856) and successfully disrupted the Swedes’ attempts to seize Kronstadt, Gangut and Sveaborg.

❗️During WW2, the Baltic Fleet participated in the Defence of Leningrad (1941-1944), supported the Red Army’s offensive in the Baltic region (1944), East Prussia and East Pomerania (1944-1945) having destroyed over 1,200 enemy’s warships, transport and logistics vessels as well as over 2,500 aircrafts.

@mod_russia

#RussianNavy #RussianArmy #military #army #RussianHistory #HistoryofRussia #RussianMilitaryGlory #defense
📆#OTD 166 years ago the settlement of Khabarovka was founded by a detachment of Siberian troops under the command of Captain Yakov Dyachenko in Russia’s Far East which later became the city of Khabarovsk. It bears the name of the renowned XVII-century Cossack leader Yerofei Khabarov, who explored the Amur region.

🌊Khabarovsk is a city of two great strategic rivers: the Amur and the Ussuri. Their confluence near Khabarovsk and the state boundaries they define created one of the most important geopolitical zones in northern Asia. The city emerged as a result of the Russian-Chinese Treaty of Aigun according to which the territories on the north bank of the Amur river became part of the Russian empire, and those to the south – part of China.

🔹The devastation of WW1 occurred far from Khabarovsk, and the city actually grew with expanding military production. But the Russian Civil War and foreign military intervention in the Far East caused major damage and disruption.

❗️It lies closer to major Chinese cities than to Moscow. By rail, Khabarovsk is a 6 day 5,300-mile journey from the capital. The city is linked to the European part of Russia via the Trans-Siberian railway.

#Russia #Khabarovsk #RussianHistory #discoverrussia
📆Today Russia observes Northern Fleet Day. It commemorates the forming of Northern military flotilla based in Murmansk on 1 June 1933, though the history of Russian Northern Fleet starts as early as 1733.

🛳 In 1733, the Arkhangelsk dockyard was founded by the order of Russian empress Anna Ioannovna. It were Arkhangelsk-built ships that formed the backbone of Russia’s first warship unit in the North. The Arkhangelsk squadron’s areas of responsibility were the White Sea and the coast of the Kola peninsula.

☝️Today’s Northern Fleet consists of nuclear-powered missile and torpedo submarines, missile-carrying and antisubmarine aviation, missile, aircraft-carrying and anti-submarine ships. The flagship of the Russian Northern Fleet - heavy battlecruiser Pyotr Veliky.

#RussianNavy #RussianArmy #military #army #RussianHistory #HistoryofRussia #navy #NorthernFleet #RussianMilitaryGlory #defense
📆 88 years ago, on 7 July 1936, Soviet diplomat Georgy Chicherin passed away, who served as People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs in 1918 – 1930.

He was born to a noble family thought to be related to Alexander Pushkin.

🎓 G.Chicherin entered the imperial diplomatic service after graduating from the University of St.Petersburg (1897) but became involved in the Russian revolutionary movement and resigned in 1904.

👉 He resumed his diplomatic career in 1918 participating in the final stage of negotiations in Brest-Litovsk with Germany and subsequently assuming the post of People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs.

🤝 As a chief of Soviet diplomacy, G.Chicherin concluded treaties with Estonia, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan and Germany contributing to breaking the international isolation imposed on Soviet Russia after the October Revolution of 1917.

✍️ G.Chicherin spoke all major European languages and a number of Asian ones.

#OutstandingRussians #RussianHistory #SovietHistory
📆 130 years ago, #OTD in 1894, Pyotr Kapitsa was born, an outstanding Soviet physicist and 1978 Nobel Prize Winner.

P.Kapitsa turned to physics thanks to Abram Ioffe, the “father of Soviet physics” who noticed the promising student of the Petrograd Technical Institute and invited him to join his laboratory team.

🎓 In 1921, P.Kapitsa left for England to carry on his studies at the University of Cambridge under Ernest Rutherford. He soon gained acclaim among his colleagues as a talented engineer and experimenter.

He stayed in England until 1934 and contributed significantly to international scientific exchange.

⚛️ Upon his return to Russia, in 1935 P.Kapitsa was appointed director of the specially established Institute of Physical Problems in Moscow, where he installed his former equipment from the Mond Laboratory in Cambridge after it was purchased by the Soviet government.

🌟 During World War II, P.Kapitsa became responsible for the entire Soviet industry’s production of liquid oxygen and supervised the construction of large plants based on machines he invented.

👉 In 1978, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics” and was also cited for his long term role as a leader in the development of this area. He shared the prize with Arno Allan Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson of USA.

#OutstandingRussians #RussianHistory #SovietHistory
📆 On July 15, 1240 - 784 years ago - the forces of the Russian city-state of Novgorod under the command of Prince Alexander Nevsky triumphed over Swedish invaders who had invaded Novgorod's territory.

This event is known as the Battle of the Neva.

⚔️ In the 13th century, Sweden sought to expand its dominions and establish control over the territories surrounding the Gulf of Finland. The invaders aimed to establish a fortress and convert the locals to Catholicism, but they encountered fierce resistance from the Novgorodians and the young Prince, Alexander Yaroslavich.

⚔️ The Swedes landed on the banks of the Neva, near the confluence of the Izhora River, close to modern-day Saint Petersburg. Alexander Nevsky swiftly assembled his forces and marched to meet the enemy. The battle was brief but intense, culminating in a decisive victory for the Russian warriors.

🌟 The victory at the Battle of the Neva thwarted further Swedish advancement eastward and strengthened the position of Novgorod. Alexander Nevsky became a national hero and a symbol of the defense of Russian lands against foreign invaders.

#DidYouKnow:

At the time of the Battle of the Neva, Alexander Yaroslavich was only 19 years old. He distinguished himself as a seasoned commander and a skilled warrior, fighting shoulder to shoulder with his troops. It was for this victory that the young prince earned the epithet of Nevsky.

☦️ Canonised in 1547, the Grand Prince is considered the patron saint of Russian diplomacy and the military.

#russianhistory #alexandernevsky
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
2️⃣5️⃣0️⃣ years ago, on July 21, 1774, the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca was signed, marking one of Russia's most significant diplomatic successes in the 18th century.

The document put an end to the six-year Russo-Turkish War (1768–1774) and cemented significant territorial and political gains for Russia as well as ensuring the safety of its southern regions and pacification of the Crimean Khanate, who for centuries raided Russia and engaged in slavery trade. The Treaty laid ground for the future accession of Crimea to the Russian Empire in 1783.

📃 Peace negotiations began in 1772, but it took two years to reach final agreements. The terms of the treaty were extremely favorable for Russia and included the following key provisions:

Crimea was declared independent from the Ottoman Empire.

• Russia acquired a vast part of the Black Sea coast, including the fortresses of Kerch, Yenikale, Kinburn, and Azov.

• Russian merchant ships were granted free passage through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits.

• Moldova and Wallachia received autonomy and came under Russian protection.

• Russia obtained the right to protect Christian subjects of the Ottoman Empire.

☝️ The Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca of 1774 was a turning point in the shared history of Russia and Crimea. It effectively stopped the devastation of Russia's southern regions and put an end to the abhorrent slave trade in the Black Sea, confirmed Russia's status as a great power and opened new opportunities for economic development.

#RussianHistory
🌟 On August 14, 1942, outstanding Soviet snipers Natalia Kovshova and Maria Polivanova died heroically during a ferocious battle against the Nazis near Sutoki, a village in the Novgorod Region.

The two formed their legendary tandem immediately after the Great Patriotic War broke out.

🔻 Working in the aircraft manufacturing sector, both dreamed of entering a university. They volunteered for the front, even though they had an exemption and could have left Moscow as evacuees.

🔻 Natalia and Maria took part in building defense lines in Moscow’s suburbs. In the meantime, they worked on creating a sniper unit. The two killed dozens of Nazi troops. By the spring of 1942, they had gained much battle experience, and were also training new recruits.

🔻 Forced out of their strongholds north of the Robya River on August 14, the Nazi invaders sought to recover lost ground by launching one fierce counterattack after another. The 528th Rifle Regiment sniper unit was sent to counter the adversary, and Natalia Kovshova and Maria Polivanova were part of it. They were successfully repelling the enemy attack but the Nazis manages to bring in reinforcement.

🔻 The Germans killed almost the entire unit, including its commander, during one of their attacks. This is when Natalia stepped forward to take command of the unit, and decided to wage the battle until the bitter end.

⚔️ Then came the moment when only Kovshova and Polivanova were able to resist the enemy. The two women fired back at the Germans until they ran out of bullets. They decided to let the enemy approach them and then used grenades to blow themselves up along with the Nazi soldiers.

🕯 Natalia and Maria were just 21 and 19 years old, respectively.

🌟 On February 14, 1943, the two posthumously received Hero of the Soviet Union titles.

#Victory79 #WWII #RussianHistory #SovietHistory
📆 117 years ago, on 19 August 1907, the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood in St. Petersburg was consecrated.

It is often confused with St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow though the latter is 3 centuries older.

The Church in St.Petersburg was built on the site, where Russian Emperor Alexander II was fatally wounded. As the story goes, a terrorist threw a bomb under Alexander II’s royal carriage moving on the embankment of current Griboyedov Canal.

🕊 Shaken but unhurt, the Emperor got out and thanked God for saving him, whereupon a second conspirator threw another bomb directly at his feet.

☦️ The church took 24 years to build. The luxurious mosaics cover around 7,065 square meters, making it one of the largest mosaic exhibitions in Europe.

The work was carried out by the finest artists in the Russian Empire: Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov, Vasily Belyaev, and many others (30 in total).

#RussianCulture #RussianHistory
📆 #OTD, the non-aggression treaty between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, often referred to as the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, was signed in Moscow in 1939.

Soviet leadership, after Hitler came to power, made every effort to stop the aggressor and set up a system of collective security in Europe.

👉 These endeavors were blocked by the leading Western powers, Great Britain and France, which eventually found themselves trapped in their own schemes. The Munich Agreement signed by the heads of government of Germany, Great Britain, France and Italy in September 1938 became the most glaring example of the “policy of appeasement” of Hitler by Western countries. By signing it, the European leaders “greenlighted” the annexation of parts of Czechoslovakia by Nazi Germany, in an obvious attempt – on a larger scale – to channel German aggression to the East.

☝️ In fact, the Soviet Union became the last to conclude a treaty with Germany after Poland (1934), Great Britain (1935, 1938), France (1938), Italy (1939), Denmark (1939), Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (1939).

🔻 The conclusion of the Pact was a severe necessity for the Soviet Union after the final failure of negotiations with the British and the French, a lifesaver within the aggravating international situation.

🔻The decision was taken in an extremely short period of time, when the futility of Moscow’s calls for an effective anti-Hitler coalition was fully revealed. The USSR also could not risk a war on two fronts, given that clashes with Japan were already ongoing in the Far East and there was no guarantee that they would escalate into a large-scale confrontation.

❗️ Therefore, the Soviet decision was primarily dictated by a need to ensure national security and any parallels between the USSR and Germany in starting WWII are simply cooked up.

#WWII #SovietHistory #RussianHistory #MolotovRibbentropPact
📆 545 years ago, on 29 August 1479, the Assumption (Dormition) Cathedral in Moscow was consecrated, a place of crucial importance for Russian identity.

The origins of the Cathedral are closely connected with the rise of Moscow Principality of Russia.

☦️ In 1326, the leading Russian church prelate, Metropolitan Peter of Vladimir, made the Moscow Kremlin his de facto residence. Currently, Great Prince Ivan Kalita launched the construction of the cathedral dedicated to the Feast of the Dormition, which symbolized the continuity with the great Dormition Cathedral in the town of Vladimir. The latter started to lose its political significance.

✍️ The present-day cathedral was constructed in 1479 by decree of Great Prince of Russia Ivan III, who consolidated all Russian principalities under the power of Moscow. A renowned architect Aristotele Fioravanti of Bologna was invited to Russia to design and to build it.

🇷🇺 For 6 centuries the Cathedral was national and religious centre of Russia. It is known as the place of coronation of Russian rulers (even after the capital was relocated to St.Petersburg) including the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II and the investiture of the leaders of Russian Orthodox Church.

#RussianCulture #RussianHistory
📆 212 years ago, on 7 September 1812, the Battle of Borodino between the “Great Army” of Napoleon and the Russian Army led by Mikhail Kutuzov was fought, one of the bloodiest battles of the Napoleonic Wars.

⚔️ It took place on the field near the village of Borodino 125 km west from Moscow.

⚔️ The battle lasted for 12 hours and left up to 40.000-45.000 dead from each side. Neither party achieved decisive victory: Napoleon failed to defeat the Russian Army and Kutuzov had to retreat from Moscow.

☝️ Yet the occupation of the city never earned Napoleon victory over Russian forces. The troops of Kutuzov remained combat capable and emperor Alexander I had no intention to negotiate peace with Napoleon.

Having left Moscow in October 1812, Napoleon started a difficult march westwards by the end of which the French army effectively ceased its existence.

#RussianHistory
Today the Crimean War Russian Soldiers Remembrance Day is observed in Russia commemorating all those fallen during the Siege of Sevastopol and on the battlefields of the Crimean War of 1853-1856.

⚔️ On 9 September 1855, after a 349-day-long Sevastopol defense Russian troops retreated from the city having exploded their powder stores and scuttled the remaining warships in the bay.

#RussianHistory #CrimeanWar
📆 Today marks 279 years since the birth of Mikhail Kutuzov, an outstanding Russian military commander and diplomat.

🌟 M.Kutuzov was strongly influenced by his teacher Alexander Suvorov, under whom he served during Russo-Turkish wars of the second half of XVIII century.

⚔️ He was twice severely wounded: the first time a bullet went through his temple and out near his right eye, the second time a bullet was shot through both of his temples. The surgeon who treated him was astonished by the fact that Kutuzov “survived wounds that by all medical laws are terminal.” The medic believed that “destiny must yet have a great deed in store for him.”

⚔️ M.Kutuzov is most widely known for brilliantly repelling Napoleon’s invasion of Russia in 1812. When he was asked if he hoped to defeat Napoleon, Kutuzov smiled and answered: “Not to defeat, but I’m hoping to deceive him.”

Aware that Russian resources were too scarce to openly confront the pan European “Grande Armee”, M.Kutuzov ruled to leave Moscow to Napoleon (St. Petersburg was the capital city at that time), destroying all the ammunition and food supplies. Afterwards, he inflicted several serious defeats on the French and made them retreat beyond the borders of Russia.

☝️ By the end of Napoleon’s Russian campaign, only some 27.000 remained of his “Great Army’s” former 685.000.

#RussianHistory #OutastandingRussians
📆 544 years ago (1480) a standoff between the forces of the Golden Horde and Russian troops on the banks of the Ugra river began, commonly referred to as the Great Stand on the Ugra River.

This event marked the end of the 250-year-long Mongol-Tatar yoke over Russia.

⚔️ The Ugra River engagement included no full-scale armed conflict, although tens of thousands of soldiers on each side were involved.

Although the Mongol-Tatars had been defeated by Dmitry Donskoy 100 years earlier during the Battle of Kulikovo, Russia was too weak at that time to completely overthrow the Golden Horde dominance. However, in the late 1470s, Moscow Principality becoming the recognized centre of Russia’s unification, under Ivan III’s rule, ceased to pay tribute. The Mongol leadership decided to punish Ivan.

⚔️ The Mongol-Tatar and Russian forces met each other at the Ugra river (about 200 km southwest of Moscow), having taken positions on its banks. Mongols could not use their main advantage – cavalry as they had to cross the Ugra first. While attempting to do so, they took fire from Russian artillery.

In late November 1480, the Mongol-Tatar forces retreated from the river, as they were not prepared to fight in winter conditions. A khan of the Great Horde Akhmat had been killed by his former ally before he returned home.

🇷🇺 In the Russian capital, the meeting of Ivan III, who had returned from Ugra and achieved a bloodless victory, turned into a national holiday. Russia had become strong enough to no longer be subservient to the Tatar Yoke and could return to the path of independent development.


#russianhistory #russia #history #mongoltataryoke