✉️ President of Russia Vladimir Putin sent a message of greetings to the participants, organisers and guests of the 29th St Petersburg International Economic Forum (May 25, 2026)

✍️ The message reads, in part:

I welcome you to the 29th St Petersburg International Economic Forum.

By tradition, it will bring together leading politicians, business representatives, scholars and public figures to discuss current issues of Russian and global politics and economy.

The theme of this year’s meeting – Pragmatic Dialogue – The Path to a Stable Future – reflects the fundamental needs of the present stage of development. Today, as international relations and economic ties face unprecedented challenges, fragmentation, and the disruption of logistics and technology chains, pragmatism and equal dialogue are especially relevant and in demand.

I would like to emphasise that Russia has been and remains an integral part of the global economic system. We are open to constructive engagement with all partners who share the principles of mutual respect and are ready to build honest, long-term relations.

Together with our colleagues, we continue active work in multilateral associations – the #UN and its structures, the #EAEU, the #CIS, #BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, whose chairmanship passed to Russia in 2026.

I am confident that your traditionally substantive and results-oriented discussions will help develop new and effective solutions in all areas of economic and social life, including energy, digitalisation, food security and human capital development, as well as the strengthening of financial and trade sovereignty.

Overall, they will serve the interests of our states and peoples and contribute to international cooperation, security and stability.

⚡️ Заявление МИД России в связи с ударами вооружённых формирований киевского режима по гражданскому населению России (25 мая 2026 года)

Совершённая ВСУ в ночь на 22 мая с использованием БПЛА кровавая атака на учебный корпус и общежитие колледжа Луганского государственного педагогического университета в Старобельске (ЛHP) стала очередным вопиющим свидетельством нацистской и террористической сущности киевского режима, который преднамеренно наносит удары по гражданским лицам, не останавливается перед хладнокровным убийством детей.

Хунта Зеленского и её западные спонсоры, снабжающие ВСУ орудиями преступлений против наших людей, продемонстрировали на весь мир своё грубое пренебрежение нормами международного гуманитарного права.

Налицо прямое попрание Женевских конвенций 1949 года и доппротоколов к ним, регулирующих защиту гражданского населения во время конфликтов, Конвенции о правах ребёнка 1989 года и ряда других значимых международных актов.

❗️ Всё это переполнило чашу терпения. В сложившихся условиях Вооружённые Силы Российской Федерации приступают к последовательному нанесению системных ударов по предприятиям украинского ВПК в Киеве, включая конкретные места проектирования, производства, программирования и подготовки к применению БПЛА, используемых киевским режимом при содействии натовских специалистов, ответственных за поставки комплектующих, предоставление разведданных и целенаведение. Удары будут наноситься и по центрам принятия решений, и командным пунктам.

☝️ В связи с тем, что вышеуказанные объекты рассредоточены по всему Киеву, предупреждаем иностранных граждан, включая персонал дипломатических миссий и представительств международных организаций, о необходимости как можно скорее покинуть город, а жителей украинской столицы – не приближаться к объектам военной и административной инфраструктуры режима Зеленского.

⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry statement on strikes by the Kiev regime’s militants against Russia’s civilian population (May 25, 2026)

The gruesome UAV attack carried out by the Ukrainian armed forces on the night of May 22 against the academic building and dormitory of a college of Lugansk State Pedagogical University in Starobelsk, LPR, has become yet another glaring testimony to the Nazi and terrorist nature of the Kiev regime, which deliberately strikes civilians and does not stop short of the cold-blooded murder of children.

Zelensky’s junta and its Western sponsors, which supply the Ukrainian military with the means to commit crimes against our people, have demonstrated to the entire world their blatant disregard for international humanitarian law.

This is a direct violation of the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols regulating the protection of civilians during conflicts, the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, and a number of other important international instruments.

This has exhausted Russia’s patience.

Under the circumstances, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are beginning to deliver consistent, systematic strikes against Ukrainian defence industry enterprises in Kiev, including specific sites used for the design, production, programming and preparation for use of UAVs employed by the Kiev regime with the assistance of NATO specialists responsible for supplying components, providing intelligence data and target designation.

Strikes will also be carried out against decision-making centres and command posts.

❗️ Given that the above-mentioned facilities are dispersed across Kiev:

👉 we warn foreign nationals, including staff of diplomatic missions and representative offices of international organisations, of the need to leave the city as soon as possible,
👉 urge residents of the Ukrainian capital not to approach the military and administrative infrastructure facilities of the Zelensky regime.

⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry statement on the conclusion of the NPT Review Conference (May 23, 2026)

The 11th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (#NPT) completed its work on May 22. Held in New York, it lasted for four weeks and was chaired by Ambassador Do Hung Viet, Permanent Representative of Vietnam to the United Nations.

The conference took place against the dramatic deterioration of the regional and global security environment, which is marked by a significant escalation of threats and the growing importance of strong-arm politics in international affairs.

The event demonstrated the existence of stark differences between many state parties to the NPT, which defined the way the debates unfolded and their substance, as well as the conference’s overall outcome.

The aggression by Israel and the US against Iran in June 2025 and February and March 2026 under the far-fetched pretext of defending the nuclear non-proliferation regime became a major stumbling block in terms of achieving the forum’s objectives. This was not the first time the NPT was used as a means of settling political scores and justifying the use of force. However, the latest developments demonstrated that these unprovoked, unjustified and unlawful actions can have disastrous consequences for the NPT. The conference was ill equipped to offer an accurate assessment of the Iran situation.

The delegations of the so-called collective West contributed to creating an unfavourable environment at the conference. They came to New York in the pursuit of their vested political interests which have nothing to do with the NPT or its subject matter. These countries, primarily EU and NATO members, as well as the EU bureaucrats, did everything to undermine productive dialogue by promoting a destructive agenda with a primary focus on criticising Russia, China, Iran and the DPRK.

These European nations with their dual allegiance professed groundless accusations and did everything to evade any justified criticism against them. They were cynical and clumsy in the way they sought to justify their involvement in mechanisms for carrying out nuclear exercises by alleging that these actions help strengthen nuclear non-proliferation. As a result, these countries were completely opposed to discussing any possibilities for adopting a more transparent posture in terms of their involvement in nuclear-related practices which run counter to the NPT.

Unfortunately, those who have been proactive in advocating total and immediate nuclear disarmament were not always ready to accept the present-day military, political and global strategic reality, which did not help promote a constructive and effective discussion on the NPT’s three pillars: disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

***

Supported by responsible states, Ambassador Do Hung Viet worked hard to achieve compromises and succeeded on several occasions. He must take credit for preparing a draft outcome document which came close to being adopted by consensus. However, this document was not submitted to the conference for approval due to the failure to address several specific matters, which was attributable to the hard line adopted by the US and its allies.

☝️ This was how the Chair prevented a new round of political confrontation which would have created a negative backdrop for the next review cycle.

The way the conference completed its work did not come as a surprise. It reflects the overall state of affairs in international relations, including within the NPT framework.

Russia is convinced that the fact that the Conference failed to produce an outcome document does not cast a shadow on the NPT’s relevance. It is and remains the cornerstone of international security and nuclear non-proliferation.

👉 The fact that the NPT review took place is what matters the most.

Read in full

🇷🇺🇺🇸📞 On May 25, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had a telephone conversation.

On instructions from Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Sergey Lavrov officially conveyed to the US Side that, in response to the Kiev regime’s continued terrorist attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure on Russian territory, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are launching systematic and consistent strikes against facilities located in Kiev that are used for the needs of the Ukrainian military, as well as against the relevant decision-making centres.

Sergey Lavrov drew attention to the Russian Foreign Ministry’s statement of May 25, which recommended that the US, along with other countries with diplomatic missions in Kiev, ensure the evacuation of their diplomatic personnel and other citizens from the Ukrainian capital.

The Minister recalled the agreements on the Ukrainian conflict reached at the highest level at the proposal of the US in Anchorage in August 2025, and expressed regret that the aggressive efforts of the European elites and the Kiev regime are undermining these agreements, which had opened the way to a sustainable long-term settlement based on a balance of interests.

They exchanged assessments of diplomatic initiatives aimed at overcoming the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz and of the situation surrounding Cuba.

☝️ Sergey Lavrov and Marco Rubio reaffirmed their mutual commitment, notwithstanding known differences, to step up efforts to normalise the working conditions of the diplomatic missions of Russia and the US on each other’s territory.

#RussiaUSA

🗓 On May 26, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov chaired a meeting of the Foreign Ministry Board on the prospects of developing and expanding the role of BRICS in the context of Russia’s multipolar world formation strategy.

The meeting was attended by heads of ministry departments, members of the Presidential Executive Office and competent government agencies.

The participants noted the role of #BRICS as an advocate of the states of the Global South and East supporting a more just multipolar world order, including through reforms of global governance and balancing out the world economy.

They specifically focused on the promotion of practical initiatives aimed at ensuring steady socioeconomic growth and financial stability in BRICS countries.

Further consolidation of BRICS in the context of its recent expansion and the establishment of the partner state category during the Russian BRICS Chairmanship in 2024 was identified as the key goal for the group.

The meeting participants expressed support for the 2026 Indian Chairmanship’s commitment to ensure the succession and to maintain the cooperation dynamic across the three areas of strategic partnership: politics and security, finance and the economy, and culture and humanitarian contacts.

#RussiaBRICS

✉️ President Vladimir Putin congratulated Russian Muslims on Eid al-Adha holiday (May 27, 2026)

✍️ The message reads, in part:

Following the precepts and centuries-old traditions of your ancestors, you widely celebrate this ancient holiday which reconnects believers with the origins of Islam and calls for kindness and justice, charity and piety.

I would like to note that Muslim organisations are actively engaged in our country’s social and cultural life, paying great attention to strengthening family values, fostering patriotism among the younger generation, and implementing socially significant educational and charitable initiatives.

Your meaningful efforts to support the defenders of the Fatherland and their families and friends deserve deep appreciation.

I wish you sound health, success and all the very best.

VLADIMIR PUTIN

🇷🇺🇺🇳 Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia’s press conference on Ukraine’s strikes on the pedagogical college in Starobelsk (New York, 26 May 2026)

Video of the press conference

💬 As you know, on May 22, the Ukrainian militants carried out a targeted strike on a college and a dormitory in the city of Starobelsk, LPR.

The dormitory housed 86 students aged between 14 and 19, as well as one staff member. Children and teenagers were inside the building.

They were not on the battlefield. They were not taking part – and could not have taken part – in hostilities. They were asleep. It was at that very moment that the strike took place, turning an ordinary night in a student dormitory into a nightmare.

According to the latest reports, 21 people were killed in this horrific attack, most of them young girls, and 63 students were injured. Many of the wounded remain in hospital, some in critical condition.

❗️The strike did not target a command post, fortified positions, an ammunition depot or military barracks – it targeted a civilian facility.

***

The deliberate nature of the attack is also evidenced by the fact that it was carried out in three waves involving 16 UAVs, all striking the same location. As a result, the five-storey dormitory building collapsed down to the second floor.

This is yet another glaring manifestation of the Nazi and terrorist nature of the Kiev regime, which does not hesitate to carry out the cold-blooded killing of minors. Russian investigative authorities have opened a criminal case under the article on a terrorist act.

👉 All those responsible will be identified and will face inevitable and severe punishment.

***

To dispel any doubts, on May 24, the Russian Side invited more than 50 foreign journalists from 19 countries to Starobelsk – including Austria, Brazil, the UK, Hungary, Venezuela, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, Qatar, China, Cuba, Lebanon, the UAE, Pakistan, the US, Türkiye, Finland and France – so that they could see with their own eyes what had happened there.

They confirmed the accuracy of the information we had provided.

Western capitals can talk endlessly about children’s rights, but their reaction to the tragedy in Starobelsk shows that, in their worldview, children have long been divided into “convenient” and “inconvenient” victims.

When a child’s suffering can be used against Russia, an international scandal erupts immediately. But when children are killed as a result of the Kiev regime’s deliberate actions, it is as if the tragedy never happened – only reservations, doubts and references to “context” remain.

⚠️ This is no longer even double standards. It is moral decay and disgrace.

Read in full

💬 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

As you know, CNN did not travel to Starobelsk on May 24, citing logistical reasons.

Yesterday, CNN itself showed what it had been working on while correspondents from around the world were witnessing the aftermath of the horrific terrorist attack by Banderites on the dormitory and academic building of a pedagogical college in the LPR.

CNN correspondent Nick Paton Walsh – arrested in absentia in Russia for taking part in the incursion into the Kursk Region – was filming a propaganda piece on how Kiev carries out drone attacks on Russian cities. The report had been prepared somewhat in advance, but aired on 26 May – four days after the strike on Starobelsk, which claimed more than twenty lives. Neither the anchors’ intro nor Walsh himself said a single word about it.

Instead, CNN ran what was essentially an advertising campaign for the effectiveness of Ukrainian drones: “We're now with perhaps Russia's most keenly sought target in the war, a deep strike Ukrainian drone unit, launching this night a wave of 200. And in Russian Stavropol, these Ukrainian drones hit”.

It is this casually mentioned detail – regarding Stavropol – that suggests Nick Walsh may have been embedded with an AFU militant unit at the very moment when the planned attack on the college in Starobelsk was being coordinated there. After all, Kiev’s drones did indeed strike Stavropol the day before the attack on Starobelsk.

This casts the situation in a different light.

The AFU hires CNN to film the work of its drone killers.

Yet when Russia invites CNN correspondents to see for themselves the consequences of Ukrainian drone attacks – the killing of civilians, including children, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure – the American journalists cite holidays, logistics and so on. At the same time, there is a strong possibility that CNN correspondents were filming preparations for this horrific terrorist attack.

In the channel’s view, its audience apparently does not need to know about the aftermath of the crime.

It is perfectly obvious that this is not journalism.

CNN now has other tasks – propaganda, distortion and manipulation, but certainly not informing its audience.

This is exactly how the Völkischer Beobachter newspaper operated in 1944. Its editorial policy was coordinated by the NSDAP agitation bodies, its staff saluted and praised the “feats of German arms”, and until 1945 it kept telling readers about the Reich’s imminent victory over the USSR and the Allies. Anything that did not fit this picture simply did not exist. After the collapse of the Hitler regime, by decision of the Nuremberg Tribunal, the editor-in-chief of Völkischer Beobachter spent the rest of his life in labour camps.

☝️Today, the Western mainstream is likewise shaping a deliberately distorted vision of the world.

⚡️ Report by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia “On the Human Rights Situation in Ukraine” (May 2026)

Read the full report (PDF)

✍️ The report, alongside daily evidence in the media and online, exposes the scale of Ukraine’s human rights collapse.

First and foremost, the main reason for this degradation is the illegitimate neo-Nazi regime in power in Kiev, which is now quite openly and diligently copying its ideological inspiration – Nazi Germany.

One of many telling confirmations of this was a recent interview with former Ukrainian presidential press secretary Yulia Mendel, in which she said that Zelensky, faced with falling approval ratings, demanded that his subordinates conduct “Goebbels-like propaganda”. With such approaches on the part of the authorities, countless systematic human rights violations in every sphere of public life come as no surprise.

Yet in Ukraine, no one seems concerned. Kiev does not give a thought to the rights of its own citizens, or to the need to create at least some opportunities for them to exercise their lawful rights. Instead, it continues to profit from their blood and deaths.

Recently, the West confirmed new tranches of financial injections and weapons for the Zelensky regime. The monstrous corruption opportunities created by these enormous flows of funds, along with the preservation of power – this is what preoccupies Bankova and its residents. In today’s Ukrainian reality, this means only one thing: continued hostilities “to the last Ukrainian”.

All of this fully confirms what has been noted before: the servile readiness of Kiev’s leadership to sacrifice its country, its people, as well as the history and memory of its authentic past, is precisely why its Western handlers continue not only to turn a blind eye to the neo-Nazi ideology and crimes of the Zelensky junta, but also to justify them and even push Kiev towards ever new crimes.

History knows many such examples of the West nurturing openly racist and fascist regimes. Their unenviable fate is well known – and perhaps that is the only way they secure a place in history. This was discussed at length during the celebrations marking the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

***

Glorification of Nazism

• At the state level, Ukraine is falsifying history and whitewashing Nazi criminals and fascist collaborators. Members of Ukrainian nationalist military formations from the Second World War – the OUN and UPA – as well as their leaders, have been recognised as fighters for independence. Criminal liability has been introduced for negative assessments of the activities of these structures.

Ban on the Russian language

• The Kiev regime is pursuing a consistent policy of legislatively entrenching the dominant role of the Ukrainian language and reducing opportunities for the use of other languages in public life. The Russian language – native to millions of Ukrainian citizens, not only ethnic Russians, but also Belarusians, Ukrainians, Armenians, Jews, Greeks, Hungarians and representatives of other nationalities – has been subjected to harsh repressions.

Incitement of hatred against Russians and discrimination against them

• Regular efforts have been recorded to promote intolerance towards Russian residents, the Russian language and Russian culture as a whole. Such actions not only met with no condemnation or response from the authorities, but were also carried out by Ukraine’s own leadership. Russophobic statements and calls to kill Russians were regularly heard on air.

Persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church

• A large-scale information campaign was launched against the clergy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, aimed at discrediting its priests in the eyes of the flock and portraying them as “accomplices of the enemy”. Numerous cases of violent seizures of churches belonging to the canonical Church have been recorded.