💬 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

June 1 marks International Children’s Day.

For Russia, protecting children is a key domestic and foreign policy priority. We proceed from the understanding that the Convention on the Rights of the Child is the “gold standard” in this field. Over the three decades of its existence, it has not lost its relevance. It is thanks to this document that care for minors is regarded as one of the most important tasks for any state.

At the same time, despite the progress achieved globally, grave challenges and appalling problems persist in this area: hunger, lack of access to healthcare, violence and conflicts, and terrorist attacks against children.

Children’s issues are being heavily politicised, double standards are being promoted, and certain countries are unscrupulously exploiting the emotional nature of this undoubtedly sensitive matter to spread lies, slander and disinformation against other states.

The most telling example of such approaches is, of course, the story of the so-called “abducted Ukrainian children”. Let me recall: the Kiev regime invented a story alleging that Russia had abducted them. For years, it has fanatically replicated this myth on every international platform. And those platforms have been only too happy to listen – without bothering to verify the facts.

At the same time, they cynically ignore the fact that our country, acting on instructions from its leadership, has been working to reunite children with their families since the very beginning of the special military operation.

As of today, 30 children from 22 families have returned to Russia from Ukraine, while 141 minors from 114 families have been reunited with their parents or relatives living in Ukraine and other countries.

#KievRegimgeCrimes

Zelensky’s Western handlers prefer to ignore the fact that the war unleashed by the Kiev regime against the people of Donbass in 2014 has taken its heaviest toll on children.

From 2014 to February 2022, at least 129 children were killed and more than 500 wounded in the LPR and DPR. The youngest victim of Ukrainian aggression was only 27 days old.

◼️ Let me also recall the most egregious cases of the past three years 👇

• The attack on central Belgorod on December 30, 2023, ahead of the holidays, when shelling of a New Year fairground, Christmas tree and skating rink killed 25 people, including 5 children, and wounded more than 100 civilians.

• Comparable in its deliberate cruelty was the ATACMS missile strike on Uchkuyevka city beach in Sevastopol on June 23, 2024, where many families were spending their Sunday afternoon. A total of 153 civilians were injured, including 27 children. Four people were killed, among them two children aged two and nine.

• On the night of December 31, 2025 to January 1, 2026, the Ukrainian militants launched a targeted drone strike on a café and hotel in the village of Khorly, Kherson Region, where civilians had gathered to celebrate the New Year. 29 people were killed, including two children.

• On May 22, the Ukrainian militants attacked the academic building and dormitory of Starobelsk College in the LPR at night. More than 80 people sustained injuries of varying severity, 21 were killed. All of them were ordinary students.

The Kiev regime is targeting children in Russia through phone calls and messages – seeking to deceive them and cause harm by exploiting their trust and lack of understanding of the legal consequences of their actions.

There is also a system for recruiting schoolchildren via social media: children are offered money and manipulated into gathering information. There is evidence that Ukraine is using the internet to draw children into games that may have fatal consequences.

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🇷🇺 Russia's High Commissioner for Human Rights Yana Lantratova:

💬 Today, we mark International Children’s Day – a holiday that reminds us of every child’s right to a happy childhood, development and safety.

This day is already more than a century old, and over sixty countries around the world have joined this initiative. Yet there are also those who have begun to abandon this date – shifting it to other days, rewriting its history and distorting the very meaning of the holiday.

Last year, Zelensky shifted the holiday to another date in order to conform to “Western standards”. This year, on the eve of this date, a terrible tragedy took place in Starobelsk – one that crossed out the most fundamental human right: the right to life.

Ukrainian militants deliberately struck children who were asleep in their beds. 86 people sustained injuries, 21 children were killed.

Most of them were girls: Anya, Taisiya, Alina, Elena, Sofia, Darya, Alexandra, Tatyana, Oksana, Yana, Veronika, Anastasia, Victoria, Irina, Alisa and many others.

Unfortunately, the international community’s position on this issue remains ambiguous. Many prefer to keep silent or pretend that nothing happened, ignoring the obvious facts of the crime.

❗️ Our task is to preserve the truth and achieve justice. Impunity for such war crimes is unacceptable.

Do you know why it is important to mark Children’s Protection Day? Precisely because humanity must remember: protecting children’s rights is our shared priority and sacred duty.

REGISTRATION FOR TECHNOPROM-2026 IS NOW OPEN!

The XIII International Forum for Technological Development "Technoprom-2026" is scheduled for August 26–28 in Novosibirsk, Russia.

The year’s key technological event is waiting for you.
Scientists, entrepreneurs, government officials, and everyone shaping tomorrow are invited to become part of the XIII International Forum of Technological Development.

Technoprom is growing increasingly popular: since 2022, the number of participants has nearly doubled – from 12,000 people representing 19 nations to almost 20,000 delegates from 33 countries last year.

The key theme of the 2026 Forum is ‘Russian Science – the Foundation of Technological Leadership’. Within this framework, participants will discuss the progress of national projects focused on technological leadership and the ‘Youth and Children’ initiative, the achievements of Russian science and high-tech industry, as well as the development and implementation of cutting-edge knowledge-intensive technologies in the economy.

The format of the event combines an international scientific dialogue and an exhibition of the best technological solutions.

- If you would like to participate in the business program of the Forum, send an application by e-mail: info@forumtechnoprom.ru

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- Partner programs of the forum you can find out from the organizers: info@forumtechnoprom.ru,

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The organizers invite all interested participants to present the latest scientific developments and achievements, as well as participate in the business program of the Forum!

Join one of the key events of the Russian technological community!

🎙 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question regarding the Kiev regime’s attacks in the Black Sea (June 2, 2026)
 
Question: On the evening of May 28, a Turkish vessel, sailing under the flag of Vanuatu and carrying dry cargo from Odessa to Turkiye, was attacked by a drone. According to the Ukrainian navy, the vessel was attacked by a Russian UAV. Is this true? If so, what implications could this incident have for Russian-Turkish relations?

💬 Maria Zakharova: We are concerned by the significant escalation of terrorist activity by the Kiev regime in the Black Sea, which is worsening conditions and increasing risks for civilian shipping.

☝️ We remain convinced that eliminating all security threats in the region is indispensable to any comprehensive settlement of the crisis surrounding Ukraine. What we are seeing now is a familiar playbook: Ukrainian militants launch thug-like attacks on vessels with USVs or UAVs – and then try to blame Russia.

We have taken note of yet another provocation aimed at destabilising the Black Sea region – namely, the attack on tankers by Ukrainian naval drones on May 28 near the Turkish coast and the Bosphorus Strait.

These actions, directed against civilian commercial vessels, have once again shown that the Kiev junta has complete disregard for the principles and norms of international law, while routinely denying any involvement in such incidents.

In our view, these provocations – which are nothing short of terrorist acts – must be subjected to a thorough and impartial investigation. They also deserve a clear public response and condemnation from all coastal states, which bear a special responsibility for ensuring the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.

❗️ Naturally, both the organisers and the perpetrators of these lawless attacks must be held accountable.

We reaffirm our readiness to work closely with Ankara in the interests of finding the best ways to stabilise the Black Sea region and exert effective influence on Kiev.

#KievRegimeCrimes

⚡️ Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rodion Miroshnik:

On June 2, a delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (#ICRC), together with the leadership of the Lugansk Red Cross (#LRC), visited the site of the Ukrainian attack on a student dormitory in Starobelsk, Lugansk People’s Republic.

The ICRC delegates were able to thoroughly examine the site of the tragedy. They were granted access to the rooms of the students killed and wounded in the destroyed dormitory, as well as to classrooms and other educational facilities in the academic building of the Starobelsk branch of Lugansk Pedagogical University and the premises of Starobelsk College.

Representatives of the ICRC and the LRC also met with witnesses to the crime.

In conversations with students and local residents, representatives of the international organisation received confirmation that a series of strikes had hit the premises of educational institutions where students and teachers were present, killing 21 young people and wounding more than 40 civilians.

The delegates paid tribute to the victims at the “wall of grief” memorial created by Starobelsk residents – a place where hundreds of flowers are laid every day and where the grieving parents and loved ones of the students killed in the attack continue to gather.

The ICRC and LRC delegates also visited the Lugansk Republican Hospital, where seven wounded students had been taken. Four of them remain there, one in extremely serious condition. Two young people have been transferred to a federal clinic in Moscow. Psychologists are working with all the wounded young people.

At the end of the visit, the ICRC and LRC delegates held a meeting with the Human Rights Commissioner of the Lugansk People’s Republic, who provided detailed explanations regarding the circumstances in which the crime against civilians in Starobelsk was committed.