⚡️ #RussiaHelps: Russia delivers humanitarian aid to the people of Madagascar affected by a devastating cyclone.

The humanitarian operation was carried out in accordance with the directive of the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, and under the instructions of the Head of EMERCOM of Russia, Alexander Kurenkov.

🇷🇺🇲🇬 Two Il-76 aircraft operated by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations delivered 60 tonnes of humanitarian cargo to Antananarivo. Russian rescue personnel provided food supplies to the people affected by Tropical Cyclone “Guezani.”

📹 © Russia's EMERCOM

🎙 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's answer to a question from RIA Novosti regarding allegations that Russia violated the Budapest Memorandum (February 24, 2026)

❓ Question: Zelensky has repeatedly claimed that by launching the special military operation, Russia violated the Budapest Memorandum. However, the head of the Kiev regime forgets that by enshrining NATO membership as a constitutional objective and engaging in military-technical cooperation with the North Atlantic Alliance, Ukraine itself violated, inter alia, the Budapest Memorandum. Could you elaborate on the groundlessness of Ukraine’s accusations and on other documents it has breached?

💬 Maria Zakharova: To answer this question, let us recall that the Budapest Memorandum – or the Memorandum on security assurances in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons – is an act that does not constitute an international treaty. It was signed on December 5, 1994 by the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, the US and the UK.

Under this document, Ukraine agreed to transfer to Russia the portion of the former Soviet nuclear arsenal located on its territory and to become a fully non-nuclear state. In turn, Russia, the US and the UK provided security assurances to Ukraine.

It should also be recalled that, simultaneously with the Memorandum, a joint statement was adopted in Budapest by the leaders of Russia, the UK, the US and Ukraine. Among other things, it reaffirmed the importance of #OSCE commitments aimed at countering the rise of aggressive nationalism and chauvinism. It is evident that the Ukrainian side failed to fulfil these commitments and for many years tolerated the growth of highly aggressive nationalism.

At the OSCE summit in Budapest in 1994, and during related events on its margins, Russia did not undertake any obligation to compel part of Ukraine to remain within its composition against the will of the local population. The provisions of the Budapest Memorandum do not apply to circumstances arising from internal political or socio-economic factors.

❗️ Thus, Ukraine’s loss of territorial integrity was the result of complex internal processes to which Russia and its obligations under the Budapest Memorandum bear no relation. Accordingly, there can be no question of any violation of the Budapest Memorandum by Russia.

At the same time, Russia and Ukraine were bound by a more significant legal instrument – the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between the Russian Federation and Ukraine – which Ukraine systematically violated prior to the launch of the special military operation.

For many years, the Ukrainian leadership pursued a policy of gross and systematic breaches of this Treaty, which should be qualified as a refusal to comply with its provisions. This, in particular, ultimately led to the decision of the Russian leadership to begin the special military operation.

Ukraine’s strategic course toward acquiring full NATO membership was enshrined at the constitutional level, effectively violating Article 6 of the Treaty. At that moment, Ukraine officially renounced one of the foundations of its international recognition in the 1990s – its neutral and non-aligned status – thereby also breaching the 1994 Budapest Memorandum.

❗️NATO's unchecked geopolitical expansion up to our borders, including Ukraine, became one of the root causes of the conflict. Without addressing this, a settlement is impossible.

When accusing Russia of violating the Budapest Memorandum, they somehow fail to recall the long-standing sabotage of this fundamental bilateral Russian-Ukrainian document.

☝️ The above facts – as well as many others – demonstrate that the goals and objectives of the special military operation remain relevant and will be fulfilled, as repeatedly stated by the Russian leadership.

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⚡️ Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation:

The Press Bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (SVR) reports that, according to intelligence received by the SVR, the UK and France are aware that the situation developing in Ukraine leaves no chances for them to achieve the ardently desired victory over Russia with the hands of the Ukrainian armed forces.

However, British and French elites are not ready to accept defeat. It is believed that Ukraine should be supplied with a “Wunderwaffe”. Kiev would be able to aspire to more advantageous terms of ceasing the hostilities if it possesses a nuclear or at least a so-called “dirty” bomb. Berlin has prudently refused to take part in this dangerous venture.

At present, according to the information available to the SVR, London and Paris are actively working over the issue of providing Kiev with a weapon of this kind, as well as with means of its delivery. This involves a covert transfer of relevant European-made components, equipment and technologies to Ukraine.

❗️ As an option, the French small-size TN-75 warhead from the M51.1 submarine-launched ballistic missile is being considered.

The British and French realize that their designs imply a gross violation of the international law, first and foremost the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and carry the risk of destroying the global non-proliferation system. Consequently, the Westerners’ main efforts are focused on making Kiev’s possession of nuclear weapon look like it was developed by Ukrainians themselves.

These extremely dangerous plans of London and Paris prove that they have lost touch with reality. Their hopes to escape from responsibility are baseless, especially bearing in mind that there is nothing hidden that will not eventually be disclosed. In the military, political and diplomatic circles there are plenty of sober-minded people understanding that reckless actions of their leaders pose a threat to the entire world.

⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's statement on the four-year mark since the start of the special military operation (February 24, 2026)

💬 Four years ago – on 24 February 2022 – the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, pursuant to the decision of President Vladimir Putin and in accordance with the Constitution of the Russian Federation, launched the special military operation (SMO). Its objectives are to eliminate threats emanating from territories controlled by the Kiev regime, and to ensure the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. All actions are carried out in strict compliance with Article 51 of the UN Charter, which enshrines the right to individual and collective self-defence.

This forced step was preceded by eight long years, during which Russia made responsible efforts to facilitate a political and diplomatic settlement of the conflict in Donbass, which followed the Western-orchestrated, financed and organized armed coup in February 2014. Those who refused to submit to the diktat of the “Maidan victors” – millions of civilians in Donbass and Novorossiya – were subjected to systematic persecution.

By 2022, the number of civilian victims of the armed conflict in Donbass had exceeded 13,500.

❗️A massive anti-Russian propaganda campaign was unleashed with the sole purpose of convincing the world that Russians – and all those who consider themselves part of the wider Russian world – allegedly have no right to preserve their national and cultural identity, neither in Ukraine nor elsewhere.

Since 2014, with Western assistance, Ukraine underwent active militarization and military development of its territory as a potential theatre of operations against Russia, creating threats comparable to those against our country’s very existence. Together with NATO’s unrestrained expansion, this led to a profound security crisis in Europe. Russia sought to make itself heard in Washington and Brussels, persistently and at length explaining where and why our “red lines” lay.

Russia’s proposals to provide legally binding security guarantees – including non-expansion of NATO eastwards – were ignored.

Serious concern was also caused by Zelensky’s public statements at the Munich Security Conference in February 2022 regarding claims to nuclear weapons, which created real risks for Russia and for strategic stability as a whole. In doing so, three fundamental pillars of Ukrainian statehood – its neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status, which ensured its international recognition in the early 1990s – were undermined.

The timeliness and validity of the decision taken by the Russian leadership in 2022 to launch the SMO are confirmed by the continuing descent of territories controlled by the Kiev regime into open neo-Nazi extremism.

Among other things, the SMO exposed the Western plans, led by the Anglo-Saxons, to impose upon the international community a so-called “rules-based order”, the sole purpose of which is to secure and maintain Western hegemony. Today, many – including in the West – recognize the flawed and unrealistic nature of this geopolitical venture.

In pursuing the objectives of the SMO, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are courageously making an invaluable contribution to strengthening regional and international stability. Our country is actively engaging in dialogue with all interested partners on the creation of a system of equal and indivisible Eurasian security. We are convinced that this will also be facilitated by resolving the Ukrainian crisis with due regard for Russia’s legitimate interests.

☝️ All the objectives of the special military operation will be achieved.

A lasting, just and sustainable peace is possible only on the basis of eliminating the root causes of the conflict. This goal guides the current efforts of Russian diplomacy, including contacts with the countries of the Global Majority and within the framework of the Russia-US dialogue.

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#KievRegimeCrimes

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

💬 Some 120 civilians – including two minors – were injured last week as a result of actions by Ukrainian militants. The youngest victim is three years old, the oldest – 91.

Ukrainian forces most intensively targeted civilian facilities with drone, artillery and missile strikes in the Belgorod, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions. These regions recorded the highest number of civilian casualties. Attacks were carried out against 16 Russian regions located at a significant distance from the combat zone.

In violation of international humanitarian law, Ukrainian militants conducted a series of deliberate strikes against medical facilities. In the Zaporozhye region, UAVs struck the premises of the central district hospital in the urban-type settlement of Rozovka. In the Bryansk region, a hospital building was damaged and a medical vehicle destroyed in the village of Voronok. In the Kherson region, an ambulance en route to an emergency call was blown up by a mine.

On February 16-22, 118 civilians were affected by shelling carried out by Ukrainian neo-Nazis: 104 people were injured, including two minors, and 14 were killed. In total, at least 3,846 munitions were fired by the Ukrainian Armed Forces at civilian facilities on Russian territory.

⚡️The Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation:

In connection with the information from the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) regarding the possible intention of the UK and France to supply Ukraine with nuclear explosive devices, Senators of the Russian Federation have called on members of the UK House of Commons and House of Lords, as well as deputies of the French National Assembly and members of the French Senate, to immediately initiate appropriate parliamentary investigations.

The appeal by the Senators of the Russian Federation has been transmitted through diplomatic channels to the parliaments of the UK and France, the European Parliament, as well as to the UN, the IAEA and the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The statement reads:

“Senators of the Russian Federation are deeply alarmed by the intention of the UK and France to supply Ukraine with nuclear explosive devices.

The implementation of such plans would lead to a sharp escalation of the conflict and create direct threats to the security of Russia, as well as to the entire European region. The peoples of the UK and France would inevitably be drawn into the risk zone, since London and Paris cannot be unaware that, in accordance with the Nuclear Doctrine of the Russian Federation, aggression by a non-nuclear state with the support of a nuclear power will be regarded as their joint attack.

The irresponsible collusion of the leaders of the UK and France – bypassing national democratic institutions and in violation of established legal procedures – may lead to catastrophic consequences. In this regard, we call on our colleagues – members of the UK House of Commons and House of Lords, as well as deputies of the French National Assembly and members of the French Senate – to immediately initiate appropriate parliamentary investigations and, upon their completion, to inform their citizens and the international community of all the circumstances surrounding this extremely dangerous recklessness.

We propose that the UN Security Council, the IAEA and the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons conduct investigations within the framework of their respective mandates”.

⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's statement on the reports of the UK and France’s intention to assist Ukraine in acquiring nuclear weapons (February 24, 2026)

🔉Audio statement by Maria Zakharova (in Russian)

💬 Maria Zakharova: On February 24, the press bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation (aka the SVR) issued an urgent statement reporting that, having realized the absence of any chance of defeating Russia at the hands of the Kiev regime “on the battlefield,” the British and French authorities have deemed it possible to assist Ukraine in acquiring a “powerful argument” so that Kiev could claim more favourable terms for ending hostilities.

According to the SVR, this concerns at a minimum a so-called “dirty bomb”, while the option of providing a full-fledged nuclear weapon, including means of delivery, is also being seriously considered.

London and Paris are already actively working on resolving the relevant issues, including the covert transfer to Ukraine of European components, equipment and technologies. Efforts are also focused on ensuring that the emergence of such weapons in Kiev would appear to be the result of Ukraine’s own development.

❗️ For all those involved in such reckless actions – and for the international community as a whole – it should be obvious that even raising the issue in such terms constitutes a categorically unacceptable and acutely escalatory step, fraught with the risk of undermining the international legal regime of nuclear non-proliferation.

Ukraine, which acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a non-nuclear-weapon state, undertook an obligation not to acquire nuclear weapons. The UK and France, as nuclear-weapon states under the Treaty, undertook a commitment not to transfer nuclear weapons to anyone, and in no way to assist, encourage or induce any non-nuclear-weapon state to manufacture or acquire them.

Reports of these plans fall into an already “primed soil”. There is ample evidence of Kiev’s nuclear ambitions. One should recall Zelensky’s statement at the 2022 Munich Security Conference regarding the possibility of revising Ukraine’s non-nuclear status, as well as his subsequent equally provocative remarks on this issue.

There have also been numerous speculations by Ukrainian deputies and officials of various ranks about the “return” of nuclear weapons to Ukraine – allegedly imprudently relinquished upon joining the NPT – or about the deployment of US nuclear weapons on Ukrainian territory.

👉 Russia’s position on this matter is unwavering and unequivocal: we have repeatedly stated that any attempts to revise Ukraine’s non-nuclear status, as well as any effort by the deeply hostile Kiev regime to acquire nuclear weapons, are unacceptable.

☝️ Any steps aimed at assisting Kiev in obtaining a military nuclear capability will be regarded by us as an attempt to create a direct and critical threat to the security of our country and will inevitably be met with a firm response.

In the context of anti-Russian statements and actions by the leadership of a number of European states, which continue to fuel the Western-provoked confrontation linked to the Ukrainian crisis, we once again warn of the risks of a direct military clash between nuclear powers – and of its potentially gravest consequences.

London and Paris are pursuing these dangerous plans virtually on the eve of the NPT Review Conference scheduled for April 2026. We are convinced that the States Parties must give their most serious attention to this egregious issue, as it directly concerns the functioning of the Treaty regime and the preservation of its integrity.

We have promptly initiated active engagement on this issue at relevant multilateral platforms to urge their participants and the leadership of the respective international organizations to restrain the British and French authorities, who have been carried away by anti-Russian zeal.

❗️ The consequences of this reckless course threaten not only Russia’s security.

⚡️ Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko:

The prompt reaction of the Russian Senators is intended to underscore the gravity of the issue disclosed by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and to reiterate the inadmissibility, in any form whatsoever, of Ukraine acquiring nuclear weapons or their components.

Ukraine’s non-nuclear status was one of the key conditions for its recognition as an independent state. This status is not subject to revision. There must be no nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

📄 Statement of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation

We expect that parliamentarians of the UK and France, as well as the relevant international institutions, in response to our appeal, will express their position regarding the attempted secret collusion of Starmer and Macron and will either call them to account on behalf of the political community or fully share responsibility with them for these actions that contravene international law.

Such actions seriously undermine the level of security on the continent as a whole – and above all for the British and French themselves.

🎙 Russia's President Vladimir Putin's statement at a meeting of the Board of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (February 24, 2026, Moscow)

Key points:

• Today’s complex international environment, the sharp escalation of conflicts in a number of regions around the world, and the conduct of the special military operation require Federal Security Service personnel to demonstrate the utmost vigilance, discipline and concentration.

• First and foremost, the fight against terrorism must be intensified. The dynamics of the key counter-terrorism indicators are clear and dictated by the current operational situation. Having failed to inflict a strategic defeat on Russia on the battlefield, the adversary has shifted to individual and mass terror. This includes shelling of cities, sabotage of infrastructure, and assassination attempts against representatives of state and military authorities.

• The adversaries do not shy away from any other means. Reports have already appeared in the media about their attempts – or intentions – to use even some form of nuclear component. They presumably understand how this could end.

• Our operational information is also reaching the media on possible plans to blow up our gas pipeline systems along the bed of the Black Sea – #TurkStream and #BlueStream. They simply cannot calm down. They do not know what else to do to derail this peaceful process and attempts to achieve a settlement through diplomatic means. Everything is being done to stage some kind of provocation and to disrupt what has been achieved, cautiously speaking, on the negotiation track.

• The adversaries are searching for any method – any at all – to try to inflict defeat on Russia. In doing so, they may push themselves to a dangerous extreme and later regret it.

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🎙Comment of the Ambassador of Russia to Canada, Oleg Stepanov, to ITAR-TASS News Agency (February 24, 2026)

On the new round of Canadian sanctions

❗️We see nothing new in the statements issued by official Ottawa. The Canadian authorities have long since aligned themselves with the club of Atlantic radicals, the so-called "party of war" that supports the anti-popular Nazi regime in Kiev.

Fortunately, in practical terms, nothing depends on the actions of M.Carney’s cabinet, just as nothing depended on those of his predecessor, J.Trudeau. The same applies to the conveyor-belt sanctions being churned out, which are ineffective and devoid of meaning.

☝️In this connection, I wish to emphasise that all the aims and objectives of the Special Military Operation in the Ukraine will be achieved and fulfilled. An appropriate response will be given to the sanctions.

🇨🇦 The Canadian public, however, should understand that the unfriendly policy pursued by the Carney cabinet towards Russia does not serve Canada’s national interests and does not enhance its security.

🎙Комментарий Посла России в Канаде О.В.Степанова новостному агентству ИТАР-ТАСС (24 февраля 2026 г.)

О новом раунде канадских санкций

❗️Ничего нового в заявлениях официальной Оттавы мы не видим. Канадские власти давно записали себя в клуб атлантических радикалов, в члены «партии войны», поддерживающей антинародный нацистский режим в Киеве.

К счастью, от действий кабинета М.Карни, как и от действий его предшественника Дж.Трюдо, в практическом плане ничего не зависит. Это относится и к штампуемым санкциям, которые бездейственны и бессмысленны.

☝️В этой связи хочу подчеркнуть: все цели и задачи специальной военной операции на Украине будут достигнуты и выполнены. На санкции будет дан ответ.

🇨🇦 Канадская общественность же должна понимать недружественная политика кабинета Карни в отношении России не отвечает национальным интересам Канады и не укрепляет ее безопасность.

🗓 On February 24, marking the fourth year since the launch of Russia’s special military operation, the 11th Emergency Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the Ukraine crisis (#ESS) was reconvened at the initiative of Kiev and its European backers.

During the session, this group of countries introduced yet another biased, anti-Russia resolution. This time it was deceptively titled “Support for a Lasting Peace in Ukraine” and, unlike previous resolutions adopted at the 11th ESS, was deliberately kept brief.

The authors of the resolution were compelled to adopt this tactical approach by the steadily declining support for their anti-Russia initiatives at the General Assembly, which have clearly grown tiresome for the overwhelming majority of the international community.

This one-sided, politicised text, in addition to the usual unfounded accusations against Russia, selectively cites the UN Charter while remaining silent on the root causes of the conflict around Ukraine. Without addressing these causes, a lasting and sustainable settlement is simply unattainable. The draft also contains an absurd tribute to the “efforts” of European countries that continue to funnel weapons to the Kiev regime, allegedly “aimed at ending the war”.

In an attempt to broaden its support among General Assembly members, the document is saturated with pseudo-peaceful language, including calls for a ceasefire, prisoner exchanges, and the return of forcibly displaced persons, including children, framed as “confidence-building measures”. Such wording appears particularly cynical in light of the long record of duplicity demonstrated by the Kiev regime and its European sponsors, who have repeatedly shown their inability to negotiate in good faith by undermining every agreement reached, beginning with the Minsk accords.

👉 There is no doubt that this clumsy manoeuvring by Kiev and the Europeans in the General Assembly was intended to create a smokescreen around the trilateral negotiation process.

This was once again evident during the vote, when the Kiev regime, backed by the European “war party”, positioned itself against the broader international community, which supports genuine efforts to achieve peace in Ukraine, as well as against the other two parties to the negotiations. The US delegation, explicitly stating that the Ukrainian-European initiative at the General Assembly was detrimental to the negotiation process, requested a separate vote on several destructive provisions of the draft.

Ultimately, the General Assembly voted on the original draft: 107 delegations voted in favour, 12 against, 51 states (including the US) abstained, and 23 did not participate.

Rather than a success, Kiev and its backers secured a distinctly unconvincing result and incurred significant political costs, having exposed themselves as opponents of peace. The widening transatlantic rift over the Ukrainian issue is also becoming increasingly apparent.

Overall, the discussions at the UN clearly reflect the international community’s fatigue with the Ukrainian issue – a situation our opponents are attempting to keep artificially alive. Against this backdrop, what is required are genuine efforts toward a peaceful settlement, efforts in which Russia is participating in good faith.

☝️ Moscow hopes that all reasonable members of the international community will likewise support the said efforts, without being distracted by minor obstructions.

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