⚡️Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists (2 November 2025)
💬 Observed on November 2, the International Day to End Impunity for #CrimesAgainstJournalists was established in 2013 by the 68th session of the #UNGA.
Its original objective consisted of alerting the international community to the importance of protecting media professionals from criminal and terrorist attacks, while also stressing the fundamental principle where no crimes against journalists would be left unpunished.
❗️ However, this initiative has not lived up to the expectations of its initiators. In fact, the situation in this domain has been steadily deteriorating for over ten years since this day was established.
While all countries seem to recognise the need to ensure safety for journalists’ work without any distinction, at least by paying lip service to this principle, many countries of the so-called collective West have made a new normal out of segregating media professionals as friends and foes. And they have no qualms subjecting those whom they view as foes to repression and threats of all kinds in an effort to cleanse the information space from undesirable perspectives.
In fact, this is also a form of lawlessness and arbitrary political practices — something those who established this international day wanted to end.
👉 You can find more details about these arbitrary actions on the main page of the Foreign Ministry’s official website in the section titled Foreign Reprisals against Russian Journalists and Media.
In doing so, the West believes in its exceptionalism and unaccountability, and goes as far as allow its puppets in Kiev to step up these activities by encouraging its terrorist actions. This sense of impunity for killing journalists and carrying out terrorist attacks against them has prompted the Kiev regime to perpetrate more bloody crimes with the backing of its Western curators.
Since the beginning of this year alone, at least six members of Russian media outlets have perished. Alexander Martemyanov,Alexander Fedorchak,Andrey Panov, Anna Prokofyeva, Nikita Goldin, and Ivan Zuev joined the long list of civilian victims who fell at the hands of the Ukrainian Nazis <...>.
Those tasked with ensuring that journalists stay safe and have a mandate to respond to any reported attacks against media professionals bear their share of responsibility for these atrocities. However, multilateral human rights structures such as the UNOHCHR, the UNESCO Secretariat, the OSCE and other entities have been camping on politically biased positions by intentionally turning a blind eye to the violent deaths of media representatives <...>.
The scandalous UNESCO Director-General’s Report on the Safety of Journalists and the Danger of Impunity for 2022-2023, published in December 2024, offers a telling example of how a selective approach to fulfilling this mandate can lead for deplorable consequences. This report knowingly ignores information about Russian journalists and frontline correspondents who were killed by the Ukrainian Banderites.
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This report contained serious distortions in its assessments which undermined its reputation as a reliable and accurate source of information about the state of affairs in this domain, while also dealing a blow to the UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay’s reputation. We do hope that with the upcoming appointment of a new leader, UNESCO will be able to step up its efforts in protecting the safety of journalists by reaffirming its commitment to the basic principles of working in good faith in an equidistant and impartial manner.
☝️We reaffirm our resolve to stand up and assert the professional rights of Russian media abroad, and will be consistent in our efforts to ensure that they can work safely anywhere in the world, while ensuring that those guilty of committing crimes against Russian journalists get the punishment they deserve.
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⛓️ 65 years ago, on December 14, 1960, the 15th UN General Assembly adopted a landmark document: the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples. This historic step was taken on the initiative of the Soviet Union.
The Declaration, drafted and promoted largely through Soviet efforts, became a true milestone in dismantling Western colonial rule in Africa and Asia, providing a powerful impetus for liberation from the grip of European empires.
🌍 Soviet proposals to end colonialism, segregation, and racial discrimination were incorporated into the final text. The Declaration was adopted and entered into force despite strong objections from colonial powers like Britain and France.
The USSR did not just oppose colonialism by word alone, speaking out at multilateral foras and the UN. We actively supported African nations in their fight for freedom, backing the liberation movements of Angola, Ethiopia, Egypt, Mozambique and others.
1960 went down in history as the Year of Africa, witnessing the birth of 17 new independent states. According to the UN, the great wave of decolonisation that followed ultimately freed some 750 million people, with 80 former colonies gaining their sovereignty.
The Soviet Union was among the first to establish diplomatic relations with these young states. We provided comprehensive support: helping to build government institutions, developing industrial production, and constructing vital infrastructure. The Soviet Union played a key role in establishing national education systems and training personnel. Humanitarian aid was delivered both directly and through the UN and its agencies like WHO and UNICEF.
The adoption and implementation of the Declaration is rightfully considered one of the most significant events in modern history. Yet, the struggle for full decolonisation unfortunately did not end with the achievement of political independence.
❗️ Today, the former colonial powers’ reluctance to relinquish global dominance has morphed into neocolonial policies. These target the nations of the Global Majority through illegal sanctions, manipulation of global trade, and the imposition of neoliberal beliefs that deepen worldwide socioeconomic inequality. Attempts to replace the established international legal order with a so-called “rules-based” international order are a clear manifestation of this neocolonialism.
Together with a broad coalition of like-minded partners, Russia continues to spearhead systemic efforts against colonialism. We work through the UN, BRICS, the Standing Committee of the International Movement “For the Freedom of Nations”, and inter-parliamentary channels.
👉 A key recent achievement on this track was the adoption on December 5 of the resolution International Day Against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations, drafted by the Group of Friends in Defence of the UN Charter.
It is telling that during the vote, as in 1960, the former Western powers once again lacked the courage to support a decision that would bring justice to the nations of the Global Majority.
🗓 With resolution A/RES/80/106, the United Nations has officially proclaimed December 14 the International Day Against Colonialism in All Its Forms and Manifestations. This Day reaffirms the principles of the UN Charter and the 1960 Declaration, emphasising the urgent need to end colonialism in all its forms, completely and unconditionally.
The legacy of the 1960 Declaration is profound: it paved the way for the truly global, polycentric world we see actively taking shape today.
#Colonialism#Neocolonialism
⚡️On the human rights situation in the UK — Joint Report of Russia's and Belarus' MFAs
Key points of the country segment
❌ The British authorities, are trying to position the country as a benchmark in human rights protection all the while silencing serious, deep-rooted problems in their human rights record, both domestically and in the international arena. They use this self-appointed (and undeserved) mantle to are disseminate criticism of "undesirable" States regarding this issue.
At the same time, the UK faces serious, often overlooked challenges, including:
🔻Systemic racism, notably against people of African descent within law enforcement, the justice system, and penal institutions;
🔻 Widespread violations of the rights of Roma and Travellers;
🔻 A surge in hate crimes based on religion and ethnicity — including antisemitism and Islamophobia;
🔻 Growing popularity of neo-Nazi groups;
🔻Russophobia as a form of xenophobia;
🔻Forced deportation of asylum seekers to third countries (the “Rwanda scheme”).
The legacy of the Northern Ireland conflict also remains largely unaddressed by international human rights mechanisms.
The efforts of some NGOs and the media, which often come under pressure from the British authorities and under other forms of oppression for their activities, make the existing violations public.
The case of Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, became resonant in the context of human rights violations. Obviously, the substantive side of the process had clear signs of violation of freedom of expression and information, as well as persecution on political grounds.
#Colonialism#Neocolonialism
Despite attempts to turn over the shameful pages of its colonial past, the consequences of it are increasingly affecting Britain's international image. Although British officials condemn their country's colonial past, they have traditionally rejected the idea of paying compensations to the victims of colonialism.
In 2015, when he was Prime Minister of Britain, this was mentioned by David Cameron, Foreign Secretary from 2023 to 2024, whose ancestors included many slave owners. The ex-head of the Cabinet, Rishi Sunak, refused to apologise at all for London's role in the slave trade. Against this background, it is noteworthy that the initiator of the export of labour in the 19th century – J. Gladstone was the father of the future Prime Minister William Gladstone.
#MilitaryCrimes
❗️The focus of attention remains on the media reports with evidence and testimonies to the numerous killings by British Special Air Service (SAS) troops of unarmed people in Afghanistan between 2010 and 2013.
The revelations of witnesses who directly or indirectly pointed to the facts of the crimes committed by the British military have caused a resonance in the media. According to one of them, a Special Forces unit codenamed UKSF1 used tactics to indiscriminately kill male Afghan civilians, including teenagers under the age of 16, during raids.
In parallel, media outlets have been circulating criticism of the British authorities for numerous offences in Kenya. In particular, representatives of the British training unit BATUK have been accused of violence, sexual harassment, negligent handling and loss of ammunition, and the use of chemicals during training exercises.
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🇺🇸🛢🇻🇪Trump and the Legacy of Colonialism: Why He Considers Venezuelan Resources US Property
Trump’s recent ultimatum to Venezuela, demanding it return "stolen" land and oil, strips away the thin veneer of modern international norms to reveal a brazen attempt to enforce 20th-century colonial property rights through 21st-century military force
✍️Author: Simon Chege Ndiritu
Political observer and research analyst from Africa
➡️On December 17, 2025, Trump threatened to attack Venezuela unless it returned "land, oil, and other assets" he claimed were stolen from the US. This accusation refers to Venezuela's 2007 nationalization of oilfields, which had been controlled by Western multinationals since the early 20th century. These rights were originally secured through gunboat diplomacy and coercive deals with politically weak post-colonial governments, constituting classic colonial extraction.
The UN’s mix of silence and chamfered response to evolving US aggression against Venezuela constitutes approval of modern colonialism
➡️Trump's threat is a direct violation of the UN Charter's prohibition on the threat of force (Article 2(4)). It also exposes the true motive behind his months-long naval deployment to the Caribbean, initially framed as an anti-drug operation. This campaign has already resulted in the extrajudicial killing of civilians and the hijacking of a Venezuelan oil tanker, all without UN mandate or condemnation from Western institutions.
➡️The incident underscores the impotence and colonial bias of the current global governance system. The UN's silence and "concerned" statements from some Security Council members tacitly approve this modern resource grab. The underlying Western logic insists that political independence for Global South nations must not include true sovereignty over their own resources.
🟦Trump's open demand is a stark departure from previous pretexts like "democracy" or "WMDs." It reveals a belief that colonial-era concessions are eternally binding and enforceable by military might. This brazen attitude, backed by a US political class that rejected a bill to curb military action against Venezuela, confirms that for the West, the UN Charter's principles are mere suggestions when their resource interests are at stake.
#Venezuela#USA#Colonialism#UN#Resources#LatinAmerica
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✅@NewEasternOutlook
🎙Briefing by Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova(Moscow, March 20, 2025)
🔹 FM Sergey Lavrov's schedule
🔹Murder of Russian media representatives
🔹 Kiev regime crimes
🔹 Third anniversary of the Bucha provocation
🔹 The West's lies regarding Minsk Agreements
🔹 France’s plans to build another naval base on the island of Mayotte
🔹 On the situation with an Italian journalist Andrea Lucidi in Estonia
🔹VI International Arctic Forum "The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue"
🔹 Artek’s upcoming centenary
📰Read
📺Watch
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#CrimesAgainstJournalists
On March 24, Izvestiya’s frontline correspondent Alexander Fedorchak, Zvezda TV channel cameraman Andrey Panov, and Alexander Sirkeli, the crew’s driver, were killed in the Lugansk People’s Republic following a targeted artillery strike carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
On the same day, TASS correspondent Mikhail Skuratov was on an editorial assignment in the Kursk Region’s Sudzha District where the Ukrainian Banderites wounded him.
On March 26, 2025, Channel One’s car with a camera crew in it ran up against a landmine planted by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Belgorod Region. This terrorist attack claimed the life of Anna Prokofyeva, who was a young talented journalist, while cameraman Dmitry Volkov suffered severe wounds.
#KievRegimeCrimes
The Investigative Committee of Russia reports that 167 peaceful residents were killed and 500 more injured in the Kursk Region from 2022 until 2025. The crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have impacted 43'000 people. Several thousand civilian infrastructure facilities have been destroyed and damaged.
According to the Russia's Foreign Ministry’s Ambassador at large Rodion Miroshnik, in the past seven days, from March 17 to 23, 16 Russian civilians were killed in the zone of contact, and 134 more injured, including 4 minors, following attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On March 25-26, Ukrainian UAVs hitenergy facilities in the Bryansk and Kursk regions. An attempted attack on a gas reservoir was thwarted in Crimea.
#BuchaHoax
April 3 marks the third anniversary of the day when Zelensky’s regime and its Western curators staged a bloody provocation in Bucha and the world was shown "evidence" of the alleged murders of innocent civilians, aimed at denigrating the Russian Armed Forces in the eyes of the international community.
The main goal of the war party campaign was clear: to torpedo the understandings reached during the negotiations in Istanbul, aimed at a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian crisis.
Russia has provided multiple refutations of numerous fakes about Bucha. We constantly recall that while this settlement was controlled by the Russian military, the civilians were allowed to move around freely, use mobile communications, and receive humanitarian aid. Our units left Bucha on March 30, 2022.
We know that the Kiev regime is preparing an international conference on Bucha this May with the assistance of Great Britain. We are certain that this provocation is yet another attempt to dust off old narratives and repackage false claims about the alleged involvement of the Russian Armed Forces in the events in Bucha. The goal remains the same: to torpedo efforts for a peaceful settlement.
#France#Mayotte#Colonialism
We have taken note of the statement made by French Minister of the Overseas Manuel Valls in the National Assembly on March 12 regarding the plans to submit a draft law to Parliament on the construction of a second French naval base on the island of Mayotte.
Russia has consistently opposed the unjustified militarisation of any territories, recognising the dangerous consequences this poses for peace and security in certain regions.
We believe that the existing military base in Dzaoudzi on the island of Mayotte is intended not as much for defence against hypothetical external threats (as Paris tries to convince everyone), but rather for control over the illegally held overseas territory – one of the last remnants of the colonial era.
🗓 June 18, 1812 — Ivan Goncharov was born
Renowned Russian novelist and travel writer, Goncharov is best known for his novels Oblomov (1859), The Precipice (1869), and the travelogue The Frigate Pallada (1858).
🛳Goncharov and South Africa
In 1852, Ivan Goncharov set sail aboard the frigate Pallada on a diplomatic and exploratory mission that took him around the world — including a visit to South Africa.
🇿🇦 His impressions of the Cape Colony formed part of The Frigate Pallada, a vivid account of his journey. In it, Goncharov openly criticized Western colonialism in Africa and Asia — an unusual stance for his time.
✍️ Acclaimed by contemporaries, Dostoevsky admired his literary power, while Chekhov once said: “Goncharov is ten heads above me in talent.”
#Goncharov#FrigatePallada#SouthAfrica#Russia#literature#travelwriting#colonialism#CapeColony#history#ДеньРожденияГончарова