Russian Consulate in Cape Town

#OTD, 206 years ago, Russian Seafarers discovered Antarctica! 28 Jan 1820 went down in history as the day of discovery of the sixth continent – Antarctica, and its honour belongs to Russian circumnavigation expedition under command of Faddey Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. 🧊Antarctica is the Earth’s most mysterious continent. More than 14 mln square kilometers that has not been fully researched. Portuguese and Dutch expeditions had been trying to find the Icy Continent since XV century. English navigator James Cook came the closest to it, but his expedition couldn’t get through ice southerly than 71 degrees 10 minutes south latitude. 💭 “The risk one runs in exploring a coast in these unknown and Icy Seas, is so very great, that I can be bold to say, that no man will ever venture farther than I have done and that the lands which may lie to the South will never be explored”, wrote J.Cook after the voyage of 1772 – 1775. The Russian expedition to the southern continent was arranged half a century later under the Emperor Alexander I’s patronage. Sloops “Vostok” (“East”) and “Mirny” (“Peaceful”) led by F.Bellingshausen and M.Lazarev after a long and careful preparation sailed off from Kronstadt in early June 1819 and after a half-year voyage reached the icy shores. ✨On 28 January 1820 the Russian seafarers reached the 69th degree 25 minutes line south latitude and for the first time in history came to the Antarctica ice shelves. “We saw solid ice stretching from the east westwards through the south, with our route leading straight to that ice field all covered with knolls”, noted F.Bellingshausen. The participants of the Bellingshausen-Lazarev expedition spent 751 days in navigation, sailed more than 92,000 kilometers. They discovered 29 islands and 1 coral reef. The research materials gathered by the expedition formed the first view of Antarctica. 🇷🇺 Today, Russia is an active party to the Antarctic Treaty, signed on December 1, 1959. The Russian Foreign Policy concept emphasizes the country’s enduring commitment to preserving and further developing the Antarctic Treaty System. 🐧Russia also carries out scientific research in Antarctica. The Russian Antarctic Expedition, managed by the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI), operates five year-round research stations on the continent: Novolazarevskaya, Bellingshausen, Mirny, Progress, and Vostok. During the summer, additional research is conducted at seasonal field bases, including Molodyozhnaya, Druzhnaya-4, Bunger Oasis, Russkaya, and Leningradskaya. #RussiansInAntarctica

✨ Today we remember Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first democratically elected president and a global symbol of the struggle for freedom, who passed away #OTD at the age of 95. Mandela’s impact reached far beyond South Africa. In Russia, a national day of mourning was declared in his honour. Russian leaders and parliament paid tribute to Madiba, acknowledging the USSR’s long-standing support for the anti-apartheid movement. ✍️ President Vladimir Putin also sent condolences, highlighting the historic ties between the USSR and the ANC during the liberation struggle. A decade later, Mandela’s legacy of justice, dignity, and reconciliation continues to inspire nations across the world. #RussiaSouthAfrica#NelsonMandela

📅#OTD in 1943, Soviet forces launched Operation "Iskra" (Spark), which broke the Siege of Leningrad. During the offensive, units of the Red Army from the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts overcame enemy defenses, re-establishing a land connection between the city and the rest of the Soviet Union. The siege ring around Leningrad had fully closed on September 8, 1941. More than 2.8 million people, including 400,000 children, were trapped under harsh winter conditions, enduring hunger and relentless bombings. Attempts to break the blockade were made several times: in September and October 1941, during the general counteroffensive in January 1942, and again in August-September 1942. Favorable conditions only arose in January 1943, when the bulk of the Wehrmacht's forces were concentrated at Stalingrad. By the end of January 1943, the troops of the Volkhov and Leningrad Fronts, delivering powerful blows, pierced the enemy's defenses and pushed them 12 km away from the shores of Lake Ladoga. The combined strike groups of the Volkhov and Leningrad fronts included 302,800 soldiers and officers, approximately 4,900 artillery pieces and mortars (caliber 76mm and above), over 600 tanks, and 809 aircraft. 🎖 For their heroism, bravery, and courage during the breakthrough of the blockade, about 19,000 soldiers of the Leningrad and Volkhov Fronts, as well as the Baltic Fleet, were awarded orders and medals. Although Leningrad was not fully liberated until January 27, 1944, the political, economic, and symbolic significance of breaking the blockade cannot be overstated. The Soviet forces managed to partially lift the siege, easing the plight of the city's residents. Within three weeks of the breakthrough, a railway was built, and the first trains carrying food and ammunition reached Leningrad. The threat of German and Finnish forces linking up was eliminated, and the initiative in the Leningrad region shifted decisively to the Red Army.

🇷🇺 August 22 is the State Flag Day in Russia, established on August 20, 1994, in accordance with Presidential Executive Order "On the State Flag Day of the Russian Federation". #OTD, we pay tribute to Russia’s official state symbol which, alongside its emblem and the national anthem, stands as a symbol of and the testimonyto the country’s sovereignty and independence, while asserting the generational continuity for our multicultural and multi-ethnic nation. The Russian tricoloured flag is over three hundred years old. Tsar Peter I is considered to be its creator: he ordered “commercial vessels of all kinds” to sail under the white-blue-red flag. However, it was only in 1896 that this flag obtained its official status, not long before Emperor Nicholas II’s coronation. ⚪️🔵🔴 While there is no official interpretation of the national flag colours, it is widely accepted that white symbolizes purity, independence and peace, blue embodies faith, loyalty and justice, while red stands for courage, might and valour. ☝️ Today, the tricoloured flag has become an integral part of our lives as a symbol of the Russian state, national unity and our people's devotion to the Fatherland, as well as the commitment to assert and promote the national interests.