Russian MFA 🇷🇺

🌟#SovietSoldierSavedTheWorld #Victory81

🇷🇺🇦🇪📞On May 8, Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the UAE Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan had a telephone conversation. The discussion focused on the situation around the Strait of Hormuz, including deliberations on this issue at the UN. The Russian Side emphasised the need to concentrate on supporting the ongoing negotiation efforts between Iran and the US. Moscow reaffirmed its position that the prospects for stabilization must not be jeopardised by a resumption of hostilities, which would cause civilian casualties and damage civilian infrastructure both in Iran and in neighbouring Arab countries. The Foreign Ministers agreed to remain in contact and work towards aligning the approaches of all parties involved in the search for a long-term, sustainable settlement. Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan congratulated Sergey Lavrov on the upcoming Victory Day. The Ministers shared the view that it is necessary to strengthen the multilateral system established on the basis of the UN Charter following World War II. They also exchanged views on certain aspects of bilateral relations, including the schedule of upcoming contacts. #RussiaUAE

🇷🇺🇸🇦📞On May 8, Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov and Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud had a telephone conversation. The discussion focused on the situation in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Both Sides spoke in favour of preventing any relapse into escalation and continuing ongoing diplomatic contacts with a view to reaching, as soon as possible, a sustainable, long-term agreement on all aspects of settling the crisis. They placed special emphasis on the need to restore the freedom of navigation regime as it existed before the end of February. The Ministers also noted the need to resume efforts aimed at achieving comprehensive and lasting normalisation between Iran and the Arab monarchies. 🤝Russia reaffirmed its readiness to facilitate progress in these areas, taking into account the interests of all parties involved. #RussiaSaudiArabia

#Victory81 🌟 On May 9, 1945, at 0:43 am Moscow time (May 8, 22:43 CET), the Instrument of UnconditionalSurrender of the Nazi Germanywas signed in Karlshorst, Berlin. That document heralded the #GreatVictory of the Soviet people over the Nazi Reich, marking the final end of #WWII on European ToO, and the ultimate collapse of Hitler's fascism. The surrender was accepted by Marshal Georgy Zhukov on behalf of the Soviet Union and Deputy Commander of the Allied forces Marshal Arthur Tedder on behalf of the Western Allies. From the German side, the Instrument was signed by Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, Colonel General Hans-Jurgen Stumpff, & Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg. 🎙 At 2:30 am of May 9, in Moscow, newscaster YuryLevitan announced the text of the German Instrument of Surrender to the people of the Soviet Union, proclaiming May 9 as Victory Day: The Great Patriotic War, which the Soviet people waged against the Nazi invaders, has been victoriously concluded. Fascist Germany has been crushed. Eternal glory to the Heroes who fell fighting for the freedom and independence of our Motherland. <...> 🖋 From the memoirs by military correspondent Konstantin Simonov: Zhukov stands up and says: The German delegation may leave the hall. The Germans stand up. Keitel… turns on his heel and leaves. And instantaneously, all tension in the room relaxes, and everybody exhales in unison. The act of surrender has been signed, and the war is over. *** Nazi Germany’s final & unconditional surrender to the Allies in Karlshorst was preceded by several local capitulations of the Nazi troops along various frontlines. Moreover, in April 1945, certain Nazi military leaders, who were aware that the Third Reich’s collapse was imminent, fearing justice for their crimes, sought secret talks with US-UK command, trying to divide the Allied anti-Hitler coalition. Desperate to surrender to the Western allies, on May 5, the Nazi delegation arrived in the French city of Reims, where the headquarters of the Allied command was located. There, on May 7, the Act of Military Surrender was signed. However, article 4 of the document did not rule out the signing of another, definitive act: “This act of military surrender… will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender… applicable to Germany and the German troops as a whole.” Due to that, the Soviet leadership deemed the Reims document only as a preliminary document, believing that the official surrender of the Nazis had to be ensured in Berlin — the city where the Nazi aggression originated from. At the Soviet government’s request, the main and final ceremony of surrender took place. On the night of May 9, the German Instrument of Surrender was signed in Karlshorst. The Nazi government was dissolved. The defeated German troops laid down arms. #WW2 in Europe was finally over. It ended with the greatest triumph of the Soviet people. Nazism was defeated. The Reich was no more. 💬 Russian MFA Spokeswoman MariaZakharova(excerpt from a briefing, May 7, 2026): This May 9 marks the 81st Anniversary of defeating Nazi Germany. This day is a celebration of triumph of life, freedom, and independence for all the peoples of the post-Soviet countries. <...> None of us was meant to survive. But we did survive because our forefathers prevailed. The cost of our common Victory — 27 million lives of our compatriots, representatives of all the peoples and republics of the Soviet Union, who died defending our Motherland <...> Twenty-seven million lives lost. Those who died in captivity, in ghettos, were taken into slavery, died of starvation, or fell victim to other acts of genocide. We remember them all. And we will keep their memory alive.

🏅Happy #VictoryDay! Today marks the 81st Anniversary of the Great Victory over Nazism. #Victory81#WeRemember

⚡️Comment by Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov on the Russia-Ukraine ceasefire for a POW exchange(May 8, 2026) 💬Yury Ushakov: On behalf of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, I confirm that the Russian Side finds acceptable the initiative just proposed by US President Donald Trump concerning a ceasefire to perform an exchange of POWs between Russia and Ukraine. The relevant agreement was reached during our telephone contacts with the US Presidential Administration. US representatives, for their part, maintained contact with Kiev. The main arrangement for the ceasefire period – from May 9 through the end of May 11 – is to exchange POWS, 1,000 people from each side. We welcome this initiative, which builds on the recent telephone conversation between the Presidents of Russia and the US, during which the Leaders placed special emphasis on the fact that our countries were Allies during World War II, and also discussed the possibility of a ceasefire for the Victory Day celebrations. It is important that President Trump’s initiative is timed precisely to coincide with the 81st anniversary of Victory over Nazism – our sacred holiday.

📰Article by Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev (May 7, 2026) Germany’s New Militariszation: A Revival of Spirit or Blatant Revanchism? Key points: • Germany’s current leadership has recently been speaking ever more loudly about its claims to hegemony in the Old World, while at the same time hollowing out – in public perception – the responsibility borne by its ancestors for the crimes of Nazism. • There is nothing new in the actions of the modern-day Germany’s elites and leadership – above all, those of Merz & Co., the descendants of the Nazis. The defeated state began making attempts to revise the unfavourable outcomes of the Second World War almost immediately after the war ended. • The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg convicted only a small fraction of the main Nazi criminals. Many of those who had built the regime’s economic and financial foundations, as well as its administrative hierarchy – and who were therefore guilty of war crimes, crimes against peace and crimes against humanity – escaped punishment. • The Federal Republic of Germany never underwent any genuine denazification. Archival materials of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service, including a 1952 report on the political situation in West Germany, convincingly show that, instead of carrying it out, “the Western powers took the path of justifying Nazi war criminals”. The entire process, conducted with much fanfare – apart from the liquidation of openly pro-fascist organisations and the cleansing of public spaces – turned into an empty farce. • Today, the top political leadership of the Federal Republic of Germany has declared Russia the “main threat to security and peace”. In Berlin, the task of inflicting a “strategic defeat” on Russia has been officially articulated. The most aggressive Russophobes, whose ancestors fought on the Eastern Front in the Second World War with savage ferocity, are intoxicated by calls to “show the Russians what it means to lose a war”. • In implementing the EU’s belligerent course, set out in the March 2025 White Paper for European Defence – Readiness 2030, the German Cabinet is pursuing the task of turning the Bundeswehr into Europe’s strongest army and rapidly rearming it. • The military-industrial complex and the German political establishment have already forged a robust lobbying alliance, a development that strengthens the role of the defense industry in the making of decisions that are most important for both the domestic and foreign policy of Germany. Humanity remembers the extremely dangerous linkage between defense industry actors and political figures in the 1930s and 1940s. ❗️Messages about the need to “consider” acquiring Germany’s own nuclear weapons are already being injected into the country’s socio-political discourse – not too loudly for now, somewhat vaguely and from afar, but persistently. • The issue of a “German nuclear programme” can and must be taken up immediately by the international community – with all the ensuing consequences: stepped-up IAEA inspections, condemnation by the UN Security Council and the introduction of lawful international restrictive measures, in order to nip these odious nuclear ambitions in the bud. • A militaristic Germany is of no use to a shrivelled and feeble-minded Europe, which would like to preserve at least some political subjectivity in a new multipolar world. Such a Germany holds no value for us in the future either – it is both dangerous and unpredictable. Therefore, Berlin has only two options. 👉Option one is war and the shameful burial of its own statehood, without any hope of yet another “Miracle of the House of Brandenburg”. 👉Option two is sobering up, followed by geopolitical recovery, with a complete redrawing of its foreign policy bearings on the basis of a difficult but important dialogue. *** 📃Read the full article: – RT website – Telegraph: Part I | Part II

#Victory81 🌟 On May 8, 1949, the iconic monument in the Soviet War Memorial in #TreptowerPark in Berlin — aka the Soldier-Liberator — was unveiled, right there, at the sacred site of the mass grave of 7'000 Red Army soldiers and officers who perished in the fierce Battle of Berlin in April-May 1945. This iconic #WW2-era memorial is one of the most worldwide recognizable symbol of the Soviet people’s Great Victory over Nazism. The bronze statue of a Soviet soldier, carefully holding a rescued German girl to his chest and breaking the Nazi swastika with his sword, embodies the noble mission of the Red Army, which liberated Europe from the shackles of Hitler's occupation and put #WWII to its final end. Inside the foundation of the #LiberatorSoldier monument, there is a memorial hall crowned with images of the Order of Victory. Adorning the wall, there is an inscription: Today, it is globally acknowledged that, through their selfless struggle, the Soviet people saved European civilisation from annihilation by fascists. This stands as the Soviet peoples' historic feat for humanity. *** The architectural design of the memorial in Treptower Park commemorates the heroic deed of Red Army soldier Nikolay Masalov. On April 30, 1945, during the fierce street combat in Berlin, the Red Army soldier risked his life to rescue a three-year-old German girl from Nazi gunfire. The memorial complex took three years to build, from 1946 to 1949. The project was coordinated by famous Soviet monumental sculptor Yevgeny Vuchetich, architect Yakov Belopolsky and artist Anatoly Gorpenko. The very site for the future monument in Berlin was chosen for a particular reason. Treptower Park, located along the Spree River, had been a cherished public park for Berliners. The architects envisioned the memorial as an enduring testament to remind to future generations of who had truly defeated the Third Reich and brought back freedom to the German people and all European nations. The historical importance of the memorial in preserving the memory of the Soviet soldiers’ heroism can be seen in the architects' note for the initial sketches for the Soviet monuments in Berlin. The note reads, in part: When designing the projects, the objective must be to create enduring, monumental structures that embody the idea of commemorating the glorious memory of the Soviet Army’s liberating mission, for which these soldiers gave their lives… The TREPTOWER monument must be especially grand. German sculptors also contributed to its creation, while the choice of building material — the granite taken from the ruins of the defeated Hitler's Reichskanzlei — was imbued with powerful symbolism. 🎖 The monument was officially unveiled on May 8, 1949. During the ceremony, Berlin’s military commandant, Major General Alexander Kotikov, delivered his famous address: This monument in the heart of Europe, in Berlin, will forever remind the peoples of the world when, how, and at what cost Victory was achieved, our Motherland was saved and the present and future generations of humanity were preserved. *** Each and every year on May 9, despite the authorities’ ongoing efforts to stifle our sacred #VictoryDay commemorations, thousands of compassionate citizens — our compatriots, and Germans alike — gather at Treptower Park to cherish the memory of Liberators who saved the world from Nazism. 💬 Russian MFA Spokeswoman MariaZakharova (excerpt from briefing of April 24, 2026): This memorial features the statue of a Soviet soldier holding a German girl. Not a Russian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Tajik, Armenian, Azerbaijani, or Jewish girl, but a German girl. This, I believe, represents the highest expression of humanism: a Soviet soldier is portrayed as a liberator, first and foremost, of the German people from Nazism, even though his own family had been destroyed, his home obliterated, and Soviet towns and villages burned down. Yet he protects a German girl. #WeRemember

🌟On the occasion of the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, President of Russia Vladimir Putin sent congratulatory messages to: the Leaders of 🇦🇿 Azerbaijan 🇦🇲 Armenia 🇧🇾 Belarus 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan 🇹🇯 Tajikistan 🇹🇲 Turkmenistan 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan 🤝 Abkhazia 🤝 South Ossetia the peoples of • Georgia • Moldova *** ✍️ President Putin emphasized that on this day, we pay tribute with gratitude and respect to our fathers and grandfathers, who fought shoulder to shoulder on the front lines and worked tirelessly on the home front, bringing the long-awaited Victory over the Nazi invaders closer at the cost of immeasurable sacrifice and hardship. In his congratulatory messages to foreign Leaders and their citizens, the President of Russia conveyed heartfelt greetings and sincere appreciation to veterans of the Great Patriotic War and home-front workers, wishing them sound health, high spirits and longevity. In his addresses to the peoples of Georgia and Moldova, Vladimir Putin called for preserving the memory of the harsh wartime years of 1941-1945 and passing on to future generations the noble traditions of friendship and mutual assistance that bind the peoples of our countries. #Victory81

🎗 As part of the Embassy's ongoing memorial activities, Russian diplomats laid flowers on the graves of Soviet servicemen buried in Shaftesbury (Dorset), Tidworth (Wiltshire) and Aldershot (Hampshire). Such visits are conducted on a regular basis. Together with committed compatriots, we systematically inspect and help maintain military burial sites across the United Kingdom ensuring they are properly cared for. Preserving the memory of those who gave their lives in defence of the Motherland is not only our moral duty, but also a matter of historical justice — one that must remain above political expediency, particularly as we approach the 81st anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. #Victory81#WeRemember

The fourth issue of the bulletin on the activities of the Russian Federation Presidential Commissioner for Children's Rights to protect children during a special military operation is available on our website – in Russian and English. In the document we: ➡️ provided an update on the interim results of humanitarian efforts to ensure safety and support of children and families, including «To the children's hands» headquarters, «The Day after Tomorrow» shifts and the development of infrastructure in regions affected by hostilities; ➡️ presented more details on how the work to reunite children with their loved ones is organized; ➡️ added a section on the list of 339 individuals handed over to the Russian delegation during the negotiations in Istanbul in the summer of 2025; ➡️ expanded the chapter on international cooperation – with the collaboration with the First Lady of the United States of America Melania Trump, previously with the State of Qatar; ➡️ updated the sections on our operating principles and examples of assisstance to families; ➡️ supplemented the chapters on disinformation surrounding the topic of child protection. We have updated the appendices with stories of children being reunited with their loved ones in Russia, Ukraine and other countries where we have been able to help. I am hopeful that the channel of communication with the American side, established with the assistance of Kirill Dmitriev, Special Representative of the President of the Russian Federation for Investment and Economic Cooperation with Foreign Countries, will make it possible to continue assisting families affected by the current conflict, as well as to convey information about the true state of affairs to the international community. The first issue of the bulletin was published in April 2023. The decision to prepare such a document was taken following numerous inquiries from Russian and foreign journalists regarding assistance for children and families. The work continues.

🔴#LIVE: Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's remarks at the solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the Russian Foreign Ministry 🔴X 🔴Facebook 🔴Ruptly 🔴Russia’s MFA website #Victory81#WeRemember