Embassy of Russia in Singapore

🗣Briefing of the Chief of the Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Protection Troops of the Russian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General I.A. Kirillov, on the consequences of supplying the Kyiv regime with depleted uranium munitions (October 7, 2024) Key Points: 📑• During the special military operation, more than 400 instances of the use of chemical riot control agents (chloracetophenone, CS) and list chemicals such as chloropicrin, BZ, hydrocyanic acid, and cyanogen chloride by the Ukrainian side were recorded. ‼• Such incidents took place in the area of the city of Donetsk, as well as in the settlements of Bogdanovka, Gorlovka, Kremennaya, Artemovsk, and along the Krasny Liman and Boguslav directions. ☝• In June 2024, a chemical laboratory intended for the production of toxic substances of general poisonous action, including those based on hydrocyanic acid, was discovered in the Avdeevka area (DPR). 🔔• In August 2024, instances of covert use of chemical weapons by the Kyiv regime under the guise of smoke shells were identified. On August 11, in the city of Sudzha, Kursk region, Ukrainian armed formations used 155-mm DM-105 cluster munitions, resulting in injuries to more than 20 people. These munitions, in the amount of 3,800 units, were supplied to Ukraine in September 2023 as part of a military aid package. • The briefing mentions the supply of triethanolamine to Kyiv—a compound used for the production of nitrogen mustard gas. • The Russian Ministry of Defense currently has information about Ukraine's preparations for provocations aimed at accusing the Russian Federation of using toxic substances during the special military operation. • To successfully implement its plans, Kyiv intends to exploit the absence of Russian representatives in the OPCW Executive Council, and if successful, to seek the further removal of Russian representatives from positions in the Technical Secretariat.

from St. Petersburg and Moscow (Russell has visited them in May, 2024). The weather was not bad, but it was very cold at night. But I like cool weather. During the day, it was very hot, almost like in Singapore. We walked around the city a bit and saw the old military arsenal building, which resembles European architecture. 🔹Question: Did you speak Russian much during your trip? 🔸Russell: I spoke Russian pretty much. The whole forum was conducted in Russian. Of course, I felt a bit uncomfortable because it’s not my native language. But at the same time, the communication was very interesting. 🔹Question: What stood out the most from your trip? 🔸Russell: The day we were brainstorming how to strengthen relations between Australia, Magadan, and Singapore stood out to me the most. It was challenging because our countries are far apart. So, we decided that we could maintain connections through the internet. That’s how we came up with the idea of esports competitions. 🔹Question: Did you try Russian food? 🔸Russell: Yes, we had a buffet with Russian food. For example, there was buckwheat, porridge, and borscht. Just regular food. 🔹Question: What is your favorite dish in Russian cuisine? 🔸Russell: Borscht. I love soup. 🔹Question: How do you think the communication style differs between Russians and Singaporeans? 🔸Russell: I enjoy talking to people from Russia. Because when Russians asked me something, they asked very interesting questions; they were curious. In Singapore, the communication style is more reserved. In Russia, it’s more engaging. Everyone was polite and friendly. Perhaps it’s because the Forum was for youth, and many participants already knew each other. 🔹Question: And finally, what advice would you give to people learning Russian or those who are just about to start? 🔸Russell: I advise them not to be afraid to make mistakes when speaking Russian. And don’t be afraid to speak Russian because that’s important when learning a foreign language — speaking it. Of course, Russian is a difficult language, but the more you practice, the easier it will be. ✅The material was prepared by the First secretary of the Embassy, Nadezda Bereznyatskaya, with the support from Russian Language Coordinator (NTU) Elena Ermilova.

🔷From September 24 to 29, 2024, the 9th International Youth Forum "Eurasia Global" took place in Orenburg, Russia 🇷🇺. The Forum was attended by 500 people aged 14 to 35 from Russia and various foreign countries. The theme of the Forum was "Russian Friendship," with the slogan "We are united by friendship." The main goal of the forum was to create favorable conditions for the development of international youth cooperation, partnership, and diplomacy in the face of modern challenges. This year, Russell Phun, a student from Nanyang Technological University, participated in the Forum. After his return to Singapore ✈, we met with Russell and his Russian language teacher Elena Ermilova at the Embassy to hear about his impressions of the trip and to conduct a brief interview. The interview was conducted in Russian 🇷🇺, and Russell speaks it remarkably well. 🔹Question: Russell, please tell us a bit about yourself. 🔸Russell: My name is Russell Phun, I am 25 years old. I am currently studying at NTU. I am studying computer science. I will graduate in a year. I speak English and Chinese fluently and a bit of Russian. I hope to continue improving my Russian because in the future I would like to study or work in Russia. My family is small: me, my mom, dad, and an older sister. In my free time, I enjoy playing the piano and reading books. I really like to read. 🔹Question: What are you currently reading? 🔸Russell: When I was in Moscow, I visited "Dom Knigi" (a famous bookstore in the city center). I bought many books in Russian and English. Right now, I am reading one of the books I bought there. It's "White Fang." It's a very interesting novel about a wolf. 🔹Question: Can you tell us how the forum went? 🔸Russell: The participants were divided into teams. The theme of the first day was "For friendship, there are no distances." On that day, I met my team, which included participants from Thailand, Malaysia, Australia, Panama, Colombia, and various regions of Russia. Then, we had a working session called "Communication solves." I particularly remember meeting some guys from China. They didn’t speak Russian, and since I know both Chinese and Russian, I was happy to help them communicate with the other session participants. At 8 pm, there was a ceremonial opening of the forum. I was very excited to see the Singapore flag on the screen. I also really enjoyed the Russian folk dances I saw during the opening ceremony. On the second day, I met with my international friendship club. There was a participant from Australia, from Magadan (Russian port town), and me. Together, we thought about how we could strengthen friendship between our countries. One of the ideas we came up with was to create joint esports competitions. On the third and fourth days, we attended seminars led by experts in various fields. For example, there were sessions on civic engagement, volunteering, and an entrepreneurial track where Russian companies offered job opportunities for foreign citizens and experts talked about building partnerships and seeking investors. On the fifth day, we presented our projects created within the friendship club to the experts. Then, there was a certificate and gift-giving ceremony from Forum sponsors, followed by the closing ceremony. Throughout the forum, I learned a lot from the experts, met people from different countries around the world, and, most importantly, built friendships that will last a lifetime. 🔹Question: What do you think friendship in Russian means? 🔸Russell: At the forum, I already answered this question. Here’s what I said: I believe that being friends in Russia means treating everyone with respect, no matter where they come from. It's about enjoying making friends with people from all around the world and sharing experiences. That, in my opinion, is what Russian friendship means. 🔹Question: The Forum took place in Orenburg. Did you like the town? Were you able to see any sights? 🔸Russell: Orenburg is a small, very charming town. The people are very polite. Orenburg is different

Russian Foreign Ministry’s report on the indigenous rights situation in certain countries The Foreign Ministry of Russia has posted on its website a report analysing the indigenous rights situation in six Arctic Council member-countries, namely Canada, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the United States, as well as in Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. In recent time, the United States, Canada, and their allies have been active at international universal venues, in regional formats, and the media, trying to shift the focus from the vital problems facing indigenous peoples in North America and the Western member-countries of the Arctic Region, as well as in Australia, New Zealand and Japan to the alleged “violations of indigenous peoples’ rights” in Russia and a number of major developing countries. At the same time, practically all the above-mentioned countries have pursued, in some form or another, assimilation and discriminatory policies towards their aboriginal populations, something that has created numerous socio-political and cultural problems. Today, many countries develop mechanisms for coordination and cooperation with indigenous peoples. Indigenous peoples in various countries are confronted with common problems that include a gradual erosion of their traditional way of life as a result of earlier assimilation policies, violation of the indigenous peoples’ rights to lands of traditional inhabitance and natural resources, decay of the natural environment due to industrial development and certain countries’ overseas military activities, high unemployment and indigenous communities’ dependence on government subsidies. The worst affected by these negative phenomena are countries in the Arctic Region, where the above-mentioned problems retain their relevance. As a result, there is a need for solutions, including those suggested by the international community, and this is the reason behind the compilation of the above report. This agenda was included in the first joint report on the human rights situation in certain countries, produced by the foreign ministries of Russia and Belarus and published in June 2024. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s annual reports on human rights issues also systematically address these subjects, including those related to the glorification of Nazism, the spread of neo-Nazism and other practices that contribute to fuelling contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance (the latest report was issued in September of this year). Read in full in Russian: https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/doklady/1971740/

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s article for Russia in Global Affairs magazine «The UN must recover its central role in coordinating actions by nations» (October 4, 2024) READ IN FULL https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1974049/ 💬 The 79th Session of the UN General Assembly has recently completed the general debate, where President Vladimir Putin tasked me to represent the Russian Federation. Does the Pact for the Future have a future? Held as usual in the last week of September, the UN’s High-Level Week included the so-called Summit of the Future. The idea to convene it came from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Russia has met this idea with understanding considering that the UN is sinking deeper and deeper into a crisis, and something has to be done about it. Russian diplomats joined efforts to prepare this meeting and acted in a sincere and honest way, even if we did not have any illusions in this regard. In fact, there were quite a few major UN events in the past which failed to go beyond bombastic declarations that were forgotten soon after their adoption. <...> In 2015, the UN Summit on Sustainable Development adopted grand plans to fight poverty and inequality. In the end, they turned out to be empty promises in the face of the unwillingness of the Western countries to give up their neo-colonial practices of siphoning off the riches of the world for their own benefit. <...> The current UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, just like Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon before him, has put forward an initiative under the slogan of giving a new start and resetting global cooperation. This is a wonderful idea. Who could disagree? But what global cooperation is there to talk about, when the West has trampled all those unshakeable values of globalisation we have been hearing about from everywhere for so many years. These perorations were designed to convince us that they would give everyone equal access to the goods of modern civilisation. Where is the inviolability of property, the presumption of innocence, freedom of expression, access to information, fair market competition under fair and constant rules? How can we discuss global cooperation when the Western countries have unleashed a real war of sanctions against more than half, if not the majority, of the countries of the world, and the US dollar has been crudely turned into a weapon against undesirable countries? <...> Key talking points: • It is not too late to give the UN a new lease on life. • It has gotten to the point where the West wants to turn the UN into an instrument for attaining itself-seeking goals. • [The West is] hindering the badly needed change in the system of forming the UN Secretariat, where the key posts have been seized and are “inherited” by representatives of the Western minority. • There must be an honest discussion by all UN member states, and not like a process in which the Pact for the Future was prepared – without a single plenary session of talks attended by all countries. • Establishing a space of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia is crucial amid the all-encompassing processes unfolding in the macro-region. • Our initiative is based on the understanding of the need for states and multilateral organisations of the Eurasian region to assume responsibility for ensuring their own security under the ‘Eurasian solutions to Eurasian problems’ formula. *** ❗️ Today, the international community once again faces massive challenges, just like during World War II, which require united efforts rather than confrontation and desire of global dominance. Russia will always advocate collective efforts, truth and the rule of law, peace and cooperation in the interests of reviving the ideals set forth by the UN’s founding fathers. 🇺🇳 Working for the honest balance of the legitimate national interests of all countries, we can bring to life the purpose of the #UN as stated in its Charter: “To be a centre for harmonising the actions of nations in the attainment of these common ends.”

On this day, October 4th, back in 1916, the city of Murmansk was officially founded! 🌍 Known as the largest city above the Arctic Circle, Murmansk has a rich history as a vital seaport, even in the harshest winters thanks to its ice-free harbor. ❄️ Over the years, Murmansk has grown into a hub for Arctic exploration, a center of naval power, and a symbol of resilience and endurance in Russia’s north. Many visitors of Murmansk are eager to see the Northern lights (Aurora Borealis). This natural phenomenon is sometimes observed in polar and subpolar latitudes approximately from the end of August till the beginning of April.

📰 Article by Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “On the Circumstances of the Division of Austria and Germany into Occupation Zones,” published in the Bulletin of the Security Council of the Russian Federation (№3 (91), 2024) Read in full ✍️ As the great Russian historian Vasily Klyuchevsky said, “History is not a teacher but an overseer. It does not teach anyone; it merely punishes those who haven’t learnt their lessons.” Therefore, it seems appropriate to review some chapters of our history ahead of the 80th Anniversary of the Great Victory, particularly in the context of the current international and foreign policy realities. 👇 <...> The Westerners (Anglo-Saxons) refused to recognise the Soviet Union as an equal party to the post-war settlement until 1943. However, the Allies’ interest in the future of Germany after its defeat in the war grew with every change on the Soviet-German front. <...> The Soviet Union improved its military standing further after defeating the Nazi troops in the Battle of Kursk. This led to a growing awareness in London and Washington that ignoring Soviet interests when making decisions that affected all Allies could be dangerous. During the Tehran Conference on December 1, 1943, Stalin explained that “the Ukrainian territories should be assigned to Ukraine, and the Byelorussian territories to Byelorussia.” Likewise, the Soviet Union considered that it would be correct for Poland to regain control of its ancestral territories in the west. UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill proposed that “the home of the Polish state and nation should be between the so-called Curzon Line and the line of the Oder, including for Poland East Prussia and Oppeln.” <...> In 1944, the Red Army won a number of major victories over Germany and the Axis powers. The westward movement of the frontline and the growing might of the Soviet Union showed that the Red Army could potentially defeat Nazi Germany without the Allies’ assistance. This led to a major change in their views on the future of Germany between the Tehran and Yalta conferences. The West began to act not only to defeat Germany but also to contain the Soviet Union. The West began to act not only to defeat Germany but also to contain the Soviet Union. When the Yalta Conference was held in Crimea on February 4−11, 1945, the Red Army was barely 60 kilometres from Berlin. The Anglo-Saxon circles started thinking about forming a bloc of West European states after the war, with Germany as one of its members. This rendered the Anglo-Saxon plans for Germany’s de-industrialisation and division irrelevant. On February 5, 1945, Stalin openly asked the Allies in Yalta if they supported the disintegration of Germany following its defeat. He reminded them that the US and British governments had voiced such plans twice, in Tehran in 1943 and during the Soviet-British talks in Moscow in October 1944. The US and British leaders reaffirmed their principled stance on Germany’s disintegration. As a result, the Soviet Union supported the Allies’ idea of adding the following phrase to Article 12 of the declaration regarding the defeat of Germany: “The Allied Governments will take such steps, including the complete disarmament, demilitarisation and dismemberment of Germany, as they deem requisite for future peace and security.” The Berlin (Potsdam) Conference (July 17 — August 2, 1945) became the last stage in the joint effort by the heads of the anti-Hitler coalition. The Potsdam Conference’s biggest achievements centred on its resolutions on the German issue. In fact, they recognised the German state within its new borders as a single economic and political entity, despite serious disagreements on matters dealing with the restoration of a centralised governance framework. The post-war settlement in Europe, with the resolution of the German and Austrian issues as its important, if not crucial, part, was an example of the successful harmonisation of state interests based on mutual respect and goodwill. Read in full at https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1973716/