Russian MFA 🇷🇺

#Victory81 📄The list of Heads of foreign delegations arriving in Moscow to take part in Victory Day celebrations has been published: • President of the Republic of Abkhazia Badra Gunba and his wife • President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko • President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith • Supreme Ruler of Malaysia Sultan Ibrahim • Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Robert Fico • President of the Republic of South Ossetia Alan Gagloyev • President of Republika Srpska (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Sinisa Karan • President of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Nenad Stevandic and his wife • President of the Alliance of Independent Social Democrats of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik and his wife

❌ London has announced yet another raft of illegitimate sanctions against Russia. It is clear that the impact of this hostile step, like those that preceded it, willgo unnoticed in terms of the overall situation and, even more so, the course of the special military operation, despite the lofty rhetoric of the UK authorities. Particular attention, however, is drawn to the wording used in the FCDO statement, namely the allegation that the Russian side is using recruited foreign migrants as “cannon fodder”. It is worth recalling here that it is precisely London that continues to fuel the Ukraine conflict by providing the Kiev regime with money and weapons. The Ukrainian people are paying for such “assistance” with the lives of the most vulnerable and defenceless members of society. Unlike those feeding off blood-soaked grants and loans, ordinary Ukrainians are in no position to buy their way out of the manhunts carried out by security forces in search for conscripts. As a result of forced mobilisation, they are thrown into the meat grinder of the Ukrainian armed forces. It is they who are the real “cannon fodder”. 🤦 Meanwhile, many corrupt Ukrainian officials have long since settled in London, cruising around the capital in luxury cars purchased at the expense of British taxpayers.

⚡️Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's statement on the Kiev regime militants’ attack on a TASS photojournalist(May 7, 2026) On May 6, while filming the aftermath of AFU shelling of civilian sites in Vasilyevka, Zaporozhye Region, TASS photojournalist Alexander Polegenkocame under a targeted attack by a strike UAV operated by militants of the Kiev regime. The drone damaged his car, the journalist himself miraculously survived. This attempted murder of a civilian – and media workers are classified as civilians under international humanitarian law – looks especially cynical against the backdrop of the “regime of silence” announced by Zelensky. This attack is yet another vivid demonstration of the hypocrisy and vileness of the Kiev junta, for which nothing has long remained sacred. The terrorist methods of the Kiev regime must receive a proper public assessment from relevant international bodies – first and foremost the OSCE, UNESCO and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Their reaction – or rather, its absence – following the numerous ceremonies recently held to mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3, will show how seriously they really take journalists’ safety. Each new crime committed by Ukrainian Banderites, met with silence or empty platitudes from these multilateral bodies, leaves another shameful stain on their reputation.

🇷🇺🇴🇲📞On May 7, Foreign Minister of Russia Sergey Lavrov and Foreign Minister of Oman Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi had a telephone conversation. The Ministers discussed topical issues on the Middle East agenda, with a focus on the situation in the Persian Gulf. Both Sides noted the importance of preventing any relapse into violence or damage to civilian infrastructure as a result of strikes against Iran or neighbouring Arab states. They stressed the need to avoid artificially fuelling tensions at the UN Security Council and to facilitate the immediate return of the situation to the path of a political and diplomatic settlement – on the basis of international law and with due regard for the legitimate interests of all countries in the region. ☝️Sergey Lavrov reaffirmed Russia’s readiness to provide the necessary assistance to achieve these goals, including on the basis of the principles and practical steps set out in Russia’s Collective Security Concept for the Persian Gulf. The Ministers also discussed further steady development of multifaceted Russia-Oman cooperation. #RussiaOman

🌟From Cape Town to the Arctic: South Africa's Contribution to the Allied Victory On the sidelines of theRussian Movie Night Victory Marathon, the Russian Embassy in South Africa opened a photo exhibition dedicated to South Africa's participation in the Second World War – a conflict that was not merely a European war, but a truly global struggle against Nazi and fascist tyranny. The exhibition was attended by ANC Veterans, South African officials, members of the diplomatic corps, and representatives of the cultural, business, academic, and media communities. During those decisive years, South Africa stood alongside the Soviet Union as a proud member of the Anti-Hitler Coalition. That partnership, forged in shared sacrifice, is remembered with the deepest gratitude in Russia to this day. "We will always remember that during World War II South Africa was our ally and an important member of the Anti-Hitler Coalition," Russian Ambassador to South Africa Roman Ambarov emphasized during his welcoming remarks. The Cape Route & Lend-Lease South Africa's strategic geography proved decisive when the supply route through the Dardanelles was closed. Cape Town became one of the principal ports of call for Anglo-American vessels delivering war materials to the Soviet Union via the Persian Gulf – a vital lifeline at the most critical moment of the war. The Arctic Convoys Around 3,000 South African seamen served in the Royal Navy, many of them aboard Allied vessels carrying vital supplies to the Soviet northern ports of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk to relieve besieged Leningrad. Those long, perilous journeys were made in brutal weather, under constant threat of enemy attack. Their courage deserves to be honoured and remembered. The Secret Mission to Yalta In late January 1945, a SAAF DC-3 flew a classified mission from Cairo – through Tobruk and Athens – to recently liberated Crimea. The South African aircrew found themselves present at one of history's most consequential moments: the Yalta Conference, where Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill gathered at the Livadia Palace to shape the post-war world. The flight engineer later recalled, with warm simplicity, being invited for tea and cake by the wife of the Soviet airfield commander – a small, human moment at the centre of history. Solidarity Beyond the Battlefield South Africans demonstrated remarkable solidarity through humanitarian aid and civilian support that reached across oceans and strengthened the ties between our peoples even in the darkest years of the war. 🤝 The Russian Embassy extends its sincere gratitude to the DITSONG National Museum of Military History for providing the unique materials that made this exhibition possible. Their dedication to preserving and sharing this history ensures that the stories of those who served will never be forgotten. #Victory81#9May#WeRemember#AmbassadorAmbarov

🔴#LIVE: Briefing by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on topical foreign policy issues 🔴X 🔴Facebook 🔴Ruptly 🔴Russia’s MFA website

💬Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova: 🇿🇲 In Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, a two-day UNESCO conference marking World Press Freedom Day (observed on May 3) – has concluded. Usually, this annual event is held on a high note – with fanfare, so to speak. Preferably in a country of the “golden billion”, where no “troublemakers” can spoil, with their revelations, the complacent atmosphere of this “celebration” of freedom of speech and expression – as the West understands these concepts, of course. That was the case in New York in 2023 and in Brussels in 2025. For some mysterious – or, perhaps, quite prosaic – reasons, Russian correspondents, media professionals, public figures and commentators somehow could never make it to the microphone there. Either the conference link – at a forum of a UN specialised agency, no less – would not work, or a visa would not be issued in time, or some other misfortune would strike. ☝️But in Lusaka, things suddenly did not go according to the usual script.RT International chief producer Dmitry Leontyev not only managed to reach this media Eldorado, but also asked a question that, judging by the reaction in the room, left many there stunned. In a nutshell, he asked how countries of Borrell’s “blooming garden” can ban RT for allegedly spreading disinformation when the channel broadcasts only facts. How can those who endlessly lecture others about media pluralism restrict their own citizens’ access to the full range of socially significant information – and then threaten other countries, Zambia among them, with sanctions unless they follow suit and block media outlets the West has baselessly branded “disinformation” channels? What, then, is the meaning of the phrase “freedom of the press”, repeated ad nauseam at such conferences? 👉Not a single speaker gave a clear answer.But those who were ready for an honest conversation heard the Russian journalist’s voice. The West’s house of cards built on lies is wobbling ever more visibly. It is being held together with duct tape – the very tape that all too often runs across the mouths of international officials who are duty-bound to tell the truth about the catastrophic state of journalists’ safety and freedom of speech in the world [but fail to do so].

🎙️Statement by Ms. Iulia Zhdanova, Head of the Delegation of the Russian Federation to the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, at the 1135th meeting of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation Vienna, May 6, 2026 Subject: «Special Military Operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine» • As Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed during his phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on April 29, the objectives of the special military operation will be achieved in any case, preferably through a negotiation process. For now, however — and on this point Moscow and Washington are in agreement — it is the Kiev regime, led by V. Zelensky, that is pursuing a policy of prolonging the conflict, with the instigation and support of the Europeans. • The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to carry out systematic terrorist attacks against the civilian population and clearly civilian targets within our country. It is high time for our Western colleagues, who pretend to be champions of international humanitarian law, to realize the scale of the atrocities being committed by their protégés using the weapons and ammunition they supply. • Behind the transfer of UAVs and other types of offensive weapons to Kiev are NATO and EU member states, who are complicit in crimes and in violation of their own international obligations regarding responsible export control policies, including the OSCE Principles Governing Conventional Arms Transfers (1993), the OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons (2000), UN General Assembly Resolution 62/40 “Prevention of the illicit transfer and unauthorized access to and use of man-portable air defense systems” (2007), the OSCE Principles for Export Controls of Man-Portable Air Defense Systems (2008), EU Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP (2008), and the International Arms Trade Treaty (2013). The most egregious violations are committed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Romania, and France — active advocates of Europe’s preparation for a major war with Russia. • One cannot overlook the fervor with which Germany is investing in remilitarization, a development that evokes unpleasant historical associations. It is also disheartening to see how, instead of providing economic relief to the population, German politicians are consciously choosing the path of prolonged military and financial mobilization. They are frantically attempting to offset the industrial decline by shifting from automobile production to weapons manufacturing. Civilian infrastructure is being repurposed for military tasks. Suffice it to say that in the port of Bremerhaven, Europe’s largest automobile terminal is being modernized, which will ensure the rapid transport of Leopard tanks “to potential combat zones.” • It is clear that the Germans need to buy time in order to build up their “military muscle.” And to secure that time, there is the Kiev regime, to which the EU will allocate a 90-billion-euro loan in 2026–2027. According to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the first tranche of 6 billion euros will go toward Kiev’s purchase of UAVs, which the Ukrainian military uses to strike civilian — including international — critical infrastructure and commercial vessels in the Black Sea and other areas of the world’s oceans. • In the West, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the risks arising from the accumulation of weapons and ammunition in Ukraine as a result of massive Western arms shipments. According to estimates by law enforcement agencies in European Union countries, the illegal trafficking of weapons from Ukrainian territory increased by 96% in 2025. • We will not tolerate the continued presence of threats on our borders. The longer our adversaries and their backers persist in their attempts to drag our country into military confrontation, exacerbate the root causes of the conflict, and intimidate our people through acts of terror, the harsher the “conditions on the ground” they will face. 📸Photo Credit: Micky Kröll

⚡️Comment by Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova(May 6, 2026) 💬The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation hereby announces that a Note Verbale has been sent to all diplomatic missions accredited to the Ministry, as well as to missions of international organisations. The note reads as follows: "On May 4, 2026, the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation released an official statement in response to threats by the Kiev regime to carry out a strike on Moscow during Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War which is a holiday that is sacred to all Russians. The Foreign Ministry urgently calls on the government of your country/the leadership of your organisation to treat this statement with the utmost seriousness and to ensure the timely evacuation from the city of Kiev of the personnel of diplomatic and other missions, as well as civilians, in view of the inevitable retaliatory strike by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on Kiev, including against decision-making centres, should the Kiev regime carry out its criminal terrorist plans during the Victory Day celebrations." Russian diplomatic missions abroad are also informing their host countries and international organisations of this. Let us look back at how the events unfolded. On May 4, during the European Political Community Summit in Yerevan, Kiev regime leader Zelensky went so far as to make aggressive and threatening statements about his intention to disrupt Moscow’s sacred Victory Day celebrations with terrorist attacks. He said this in the presence of representatives from a number of EU countries none of whom did anything to rein in the presumptuous Kiev regime leader. On the same day, the Russian Defence Ministry issued a warning statement in response to Zelensky’s stated aggressive intentions. To reinforce my point, it was done in response to what Zelensky had said. If EU countries believe they will be able to hush up those public threats and to sweep Zelensky’s aggressive statements under the carpet, they are gravely mistaken. We are well aware of the collective Western minority’s attitude towards May 9. They are systematically destroying Soviet memorial legacy, exhuming the remains of Soviet soldiers, and rewriting and distorting history. As they continue to supply Ukraine with weapons, they are acting as accomplices in the criminal plans hatched by the Kiev regime. However, the instinct for self-preservation should not fail them. ☝️ We are not acting from a position of aggression; we are acting from a position of an inevitable response to aggression. This is how the statement issued by the Defence Ministry on May 4 and our subsequent steps should be interpreted. It must certainly not be hushed up. It must be taken very, very seriously.

#Victory81 🌟 On May 6, 1945,the Prague offensive of the Red Army commenced, marking the end of the final battle of the Great Patriotic War on the European ToO during #WW2. As a result of the operation, Nazi army groups 'Center' and 'Austria' — the last of the remaining fascists' combat-capable troops (around one million Wehrmacht and SS soldiers and officers) — were crushed and ultimately destroyed once and for all. Czechoslovakia, torn apart by Hitler with the principle consent of Prague's key Western allies — Britain and France — was finally liberated. Following the six years of Nazi occupation, the Czechoslovak peoples finally regained independence paid by blood and enormous sacrifice of the Red Army soldiers-liberators. 📕 From the memoirs of MarshalIvanKonev (“Forty-Fifth”): The war was essentially over, yet these men died here, on the outskirts of Prague, when our entire country was already celebrating Victory. They fell in the final battle with the enemy, fearlessly bringing the mission to its end. 🎖 As the Soviet forces approached the borders of Czechoslovakia, a popular uprising broke out in Prague, which was brutally suppressed by SS-units (more than three thousand Praguers were killed). The Czechoslovak government appealed to the Soviet command for support for the anti-fascist resistance movement. On May 6, the forward group of the 1st Ukrainian Front under the command of Marshal IvanKonev advanced to Prague, along with forces of the 2nd and 4th Ukrainian Fronts, supported by the Czechoslovak resistance army and local partisans. Fighting shoulder to shoulder with their brothers-in-arms — the Red Army soldiers — they finally cleared their Motherland, Czechoslovakia, of Nazi troops. From 1939 to 1945, the fascists exterminated all who opposed the occupation regime. Thousands of Slovaks and Czechs were forcibly deported to the Reich and enslaved there. 💬 Commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, MarshalIvan Konev: Despite the exhaustion after the Berlin operation, on the eve of the offensive on Prague that slogan was everywhere: To Prague! We shall save it! We won't allow Prague to be destroyed by fascist barbarians! On the night of May 8-9, tank units of the 1st Ukrainian Front engaged in rapid 80-kilometer forced march and, overcoming fierce SS-troops' resistance, entered Prague. By 10 a.m. on May 9, Soviet forces, with active support from the Czechoslovak people, completely cleared Prague of the Nazis. In the meanwhile, the enemy’s retreat routes to the west and southwest were cut off. On May 10-11, the remaining combat-capable Nazi troops, their collaborators and henchmen outside Prague began to surrender. Over the following three days, the main forces of the 1st and 4th Ukrainian Fronts fully destroyed the remnants of German armies eastward of the Czechoslovak capital. 💬 Commander of the 4th Ukrainian Front, Marshal Andrey Yeremenko: It is difficult to put into words… The Czechoslovak people had suffered greatly at the hands of fascist barbarians. 💬 Soviet tank crews' member, who liberated Prague, VassilyMoskalenko: Local boys ran up to our tanks <…> carrying buckets of cold water. After the march, it was like honey to us. People of all ages cried out with joy, grasped our hands, embraced us. 🕯#WeRemember: 140'000 of our soldiers and officers gave their lives for the freedom of Czechoslovakia. In honour of this landmark victory, the medal “For the Liberation of Prague” was established. #Victory81

🇷🇺🇶🇦📞On May 5, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani had a telephone conversation. They discussed the situation in and around the Strait of Hormuz. The Sides shared the view that any attempt to resolve the crisis by force must be abandoned, and that all interested parties should join efforts to help achieve a sustainable, long-term settlement – including agreements on measures to ensure the legitimate security interests of all Persian Gulf states and uphold the principle of freedom of navigation. #RussiaQatar

⚡️Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's statement on the situation around Iran 💬 We regret to note that developments around Iran point to a stalling of the negotiating process aimed at settling the crisis in the Persian Gulf. Against this backdrop, we urge all Sides to exercise maximum restraint and self-control. It is essential to prevent any relapse into violence or damage to civilian infrastructure as a result of strikes against Iran or neighbouring Arab states. Amid the persisting tensions in the region, any action could trigger a renewed large-scale armed confrontation. In this regard, it is important to remain vigilant against possible provocations by certain forces seeking to derail peace efforts and prevent the overall stabilisation of the situation. We consistently advocate resolving existing differences in this strategically important region through political and diplomatic means, taking into account the interests of all regional states. ❗️We reaffirm Russia’s readiness to provide the necessary assistance in achieving this goal, including on the basis of the principles and practical steps set out in our well-known Concept of Collective Security for the Persian Gulf.