Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
🇷🇺 On March 16, 2014 – 1️⃣2️⃣ years ago – the all-Crimean referendum took place.
#TogetherForever: During the vote, residents of the peninsula expressed their will to reunite with their historical homeland – Russia.
Participation in the referendum was voluntary and free.
🗳 96.77% of Crimea’s population voted in favour of joining Russia, with turnout at 83.1%. In Sevastopol, 95.6% voted in favour, with turnout reaching 89.5%.
The referendum was monitored by 135 international observers from 23 countries and 1,240 observers from Crimean organisations. The vote was covered by 623 journalists representing 169 media outlets.
💬 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (from weekly press briefing of March 12, 2026):
✍️ Based on the results of the free expression of will by the peninsula’s population, on March 18, 2014, the Republic of Crimea signed an international treaty with Russia on its accession to the Russian Federation.
Over the past 12 years, the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol have fully integrated into Russia’s political, legal and economic space. New infrastructure has been created in the region – the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait, the Crimea-Kuban main gas pipeline, the Tavrida federal highway, Simferopol International Airport, as well as hundreds of healthcare, education, social and engineering facilities.
☝️ Interfaith harmony on the peninsula is carefully maintained, and the interests of all nationalities and ethnic groups are taken into account. A Crimean Tatar national-cultural autonomy has been established, ensuring the participation of its representatives in local government bodies. The Crimean Tatar language has been recognized as a state language, alongside Russian and Ukrainian.
The return of Crimea also became a key moment of consolidation for Russia and Russian society. According to sociological surveys, the overwhelming majority of Russians positively assess the reunification of Crimea with Russia. A VCIOM poll shows that 86% of respondents consider it a right and fair decision.
✅ The economic momentum achieved over these years, the unprecedented improvement in living standards, the development of infrastructure and the interfaith peace established on the peninsula once again confirm with all certainty that the choice made by the people of Crimea was the right one.
#CrimeaIsRussia
#TogetherForever: During the vote, residents of the peninsula expressed their will to reunite with their historical homeland – Russia.
Participation in the referendum was voluntary and free.
🗳 96.77% of Crimea’s population voted in favour of joining Russia, with turnout at 83.1%. In Sevastopol, 95.6% voted in favour, with turnout reaching 89.5%.
The referendum was monitored by 135 international observers from 23 countries and 1,240 observers from Crimean organisations. The vote was covered by 623 journalists representing 169 media outlets.
💬 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova (from weekly press briefing of March 12, 2026):
This crucial historical and honest event became known as the “Return to the Home Harbour”. It symbolized the restoration of historical justice, the protection of people’s rights and, undoubtedly, the realization of national interests. By national interests we mean not an abstract state or society, but people – citizens who never separated themselves from the homeland they considered their true harbour, who never separated themselves from those from whom they had been forcibly divided and torn away from their great and extended family.
✍️ Based on the results of the free expression of will by the peninsula’s population, on March 18, 2014, the Republic of Crimea signed an international treaty with Russia on its accession to the Russian Federation.
Over the past 12 years, the Republic of Crimea and the federal city of Sevastopol have fully integrated into Russia’s political, legal and economic space. New infrastructure has been created in the region – the Crimean Bridge across the Kerch Strait, the Crimea-Kuban main gas pipeline, the Tavrida federal highway, Simferopol International Airport, as well as hundreds of healthcare, education, social and engineering facilities.
☝️ Interfaith harmony on the peninsula is carefully maintained, and the interests of all nationalities and ethnic groups are taken into account. A Crimean Tatar national-cultural autonomy has been established, ensuring the participation of its representatives in local government bodies. The Crimean Tatar language has been recognized as a state language, alongside Russian and Ukrainian.
The return of Crimea also became a key moment of consolidation for Russia and Russian society. According to sociological surveys, the overwhelming majority of Russians positively assess the reunification of Crimea with Russia. A VCIOM poll shows that 86% of respondents consider it a right and fair decision.
✅ The economic momentum achieved over these years, the unprecedented improvement in living standards, the development of infrastructure and the interfaith peace established on the peninsula once again confirm with all certainty that the choice made by the people of Crimea was the right one.
#CrimeaIsRussia
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🇷🇺 From 10 to 14 June, Moscow will host the International Tourism Forum “Let’s travel!”
This flagship, globally significant event of the Russian tourism industry will bring together professionals from the tourism community as well as a broad audience of travelers.
The program includes a high-level business forum and a large-scale tourism festival.
🪆Its unique format makes it possible to showcase the diversity of tourism offerings, present international routes, and promote cultural exchange, inspiring travel both within Russia and beyond its borders.
The forum is organized by the Roscongress Foundation in cooperation with the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.
👉 Learn more 👈
This flagship, globally significant event of the Russian tourism industry will bring together professionals from the tourism community as well as a broad audience of travelers.
The program includes a high-level business forum and a large-scale tourism festival.
🪆Its unique format makes it possible to showcase the diversity of tourism offerings, present international routes, and promote cultural exchange, inspiring travel both within Russia and beyond its borders.
The forum is organized by the Roscongress Foundation in cooperation with the Government of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.
👉 Learn more 👈
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Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
#KievRegimeCrimes
⚡️ Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rodion Miroshnik:
PHOTO FACTS & EVIDENCE of crimes committed by Ukrainian armed forces over the week of March 9-15, 2026:
▪️ March 9 – a UAV strike on a bus belonging to a children’s sports school that had stopped at a civilian petrol station in Tokmak Municipal District, Zaporozhye Region. Three children and their coach were injured.
▪️ March 10 – a massive Storm Shadow missile strike on the city of Bryansk. Eight civilians were killed and another 47 were injured.
▪️ March 10 – four UAVs attacked a hospital in the DPR. Ten medical workers were killed and ten people were injured, including nine medics.
▪️ March 10 – a fixed-wing UAV strike targeted a civilian warehouse facility in Novy Oskol, Belgorod Region.
▪️ March 10 – an FPV drone strike targeted a passenger minibus in the village of Chayka, Belgorod Region.
▪️ March 11 – a drone strike on a civilian passenger car at the entrance to the city of Vasilievka, Zaporozhye Region. Two civilians were killed.
▪️ March 11 – an FPV drone strike on a civilian passenger car in the village of Golovchino, Belgorod Region.
▪️ March 11 – a UAV strike on a civilian passenger car near a hospital building in the urban-type settlement of Gornostayevka, Kherson Region.
▪️ March 13 – a drone attack on a commercial facility near the village of Butovo, Belgorod Region. Two civilians were injured.
▪️ March 13 – a UAV strike on a social facility in the village of Malomikhaylovka, Belgorod Region. Two local residents were injured.
⚡️ Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rodion Miroshnik:
PHOTO FACTS & EVIDENCE of crimes committed by Ukrainian armed forces over the week of March 9-15, 2026:
▪️ March 9 – a UAV strike on a bus belonging to a children’s sports school that had stopped at a civilian petrol station in Tokmak Municipal District, Zaporozhye Region. Three children and their coach were injured.
▪️ March 10 – a massive Storm Shadow missile strike on the city of Bryansk. Eight civilians were killed and another 47 were injured.
▪️ March 10 – four UAVs attacked a hospital in the DPR. Ten medical workers were killed and ten people were injured, including nine medics.
▪️ March 10 – a fixed-wing UAV strike targeted a civilian warehouse facility in Novy Oskol, Belgorod Region.
▪️ March 10 – an FPV drone strike targeted a passenger minibus in the village of Chayka, Belgorod Region.
▪️ March 11 – a drone strike on a civilian passenger car at the entrance to the city of Vasilievka, Zaporozhye Region. Two civilians were killed.
▪️ March 11 – an FPV drone strike on a civilian passenger car in the village of Golovchino, Belgorod Region.
▪️ March 11 – a UAV strike on a civilian passenger car near a hospital building in the urban-type settlement of Gornostayevka, Kherson Region.
▪️ March 13 – a drone attack on a commercial facility near the village of Butovo, Belgorod Region. Two civilians were injured.
▪️ March 13 – a UAV strike on a social facility in the village of Malomikhaylovka, Belgorod Region. Two local residents were injured.
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Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
⚡️ Statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding the escalation of the crisis in the Middle East
❗️ Through their treacherous and unprovoked attack on Iran, the United States and Israel have unleashed an unprecedented spiral of violence in the Middle East, with no end in sight.
The toll of victims of the American-Israeli aggression runs into the hundreds and thousands, with irreparable damage inflicted upon civilian infrastructure. Neighbouring countries are also suffering from retaliatory Iranian strikes, while shipping along the vital global economic route through the Strait of Hormuz has been paralysed.
Once a stable and prosperous region, the Persian Gulf is rapidly descending into a maelstrom of chaos and uncertainty. The economic repercussions of the reckless venture initiated by Washington and Tel Aviv are being felt ever more acutely far beyond the conflict zone – indeed, on a global scale.
Meanwhile, instead of seeking paths to de-escalation and a return to negotiations, there is a further intensification of mutual hostility, with increasingly lethal and destructive strikes being carried out.
☝️ We reiterate our resolute call to all parties for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a shift of the situation onto a political and diplomatic track.
Above all, attacks on civilian facilities and infrastructure must cease, and the death and suffering of innocent populations – both in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and in Iran – must be halted.
As before, the Russian Federation stands ready, within the scope of its available capabilities, to contribute to a long-term and sustainable resolution of the conflict.
❗️ Through their treacherous and unprovoked attack on Iran, the United States and Israel have unleashed an unprecedented spiral of violence in the Middle East, with no end in sight.
The toll of victims of the American-Israeli aggression runs into the hundreds and thousands, with irreparable damage inflicted upon civilian infrastructure. Neighbouring countries are also suffering from retaliatory Iranian strikes, while shipping along the vital global economic route through the Strait of Hormuz has been paralysed.
Once a stable and prosperous region, the Persian Gulf is rapidly descending into a maelstrom of chaos and uncertainty. The economic repercussions of the reckless venture initiated by Washington and Tel Aviv are being felt ever more acutely far beyond the conflict zone – indeed, on a global scale.
Meanwhile, instead of seeking paths to de-escalation and a return to negotiations, there is a further intensification of mutual hostility, with increasingly lethal and destructive strikes being carried out.
☝️ We reiterate our resolute call to all parties for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a shift of the situation onto a political and diplomatic track.
Above all, attacks on civilian facilities and infrastructure must cease, and the death and suffering of innocent populations – both in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and in Iran – must be halted.
As before, the Russian Federation stands ready, within the scope of its available capabilities, to contribute to a long-term and sustainable resolution of the conflict.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
#NoStatuteOfLimitations
On March 16, 1968, soldiers of the United States Army carried out a massacre in the rural community of My Lai (Sơn Mỹ) in Vietnam’s Quang Ngai Province, carrying out one of the most horrific massacres of civilians during the Vietnam War.
American soldiers brutally killed more than 500 civilians, including 173 children and 182 women (17 of them pregnant).
On the morning of March 16, Charlie Company entered the village as part of a search-and-destroy mission. They had been instructed to treat anyone remaining in the area as Viet Cong fighters. Despite facing no resistance, US troops opened fire on unarmed villagers, including women and children. As they advanced, they threw grenades into huts, tortured people, and executed them on the spot. One notorious episode involved Lt William Calley, who ordered dozens of villagers to be herded into an irrigation ditch and machine-gunned.
Initially, Washington presented the events as a "major victory", claiming hundreds of enemy combatants killed. Testimonies from witnesses to these atrocities were ignored for a long time while the American military machine attempted to conceal its crimes in Vietnam.
Only in November 1969 did journalist Seymour Hersh publish his investigation, while photographs taken by Army photographer Ronald L. Haeberle revealed the truth to the world. The images showed murdered civilians — peasants, women, and children with gunshot wounds to the head, mutilated bodies — while nearby American soldiers laughed and set homes on fire.
An international scandal erupted. Yet only one person was ultimately convicted — Lt William Calley. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was pardoned after just three and a half years of house arrest. He lived to the age of 80, dying in April 2024 in the state of Florida.
❗️ My Lai massacre remains a grim reminder of how the United States wages its wars. The mass killings of civilians perpetrated by US forces abroad often goes unnoticed — or is dismissed as "collateral damage"...
On March 16, 1968, soldiers of the United States Army carried out a massacre in the rural community of My Lai (Sơn Mỹ) in Vietnam’s Quang Ngai Province, carrying out one of the most horrific massacres of civilians during the Vietnam War.
American soldiers brutally killed more than 500 civilians, including 173 children and 182 women (17 of them pregnant).
On the morning of March 16, Charlie Company entered the village as part of a search-and-destroy mission. They had been instructed to treat anyone remaining in the area as Viet Cong fighters. Despite facing no resistance, US troops opened fire on unarmed villagers, including women and children. As they advanced, they threw grenades into huts, tortured people, and executed them on the spot. One notorious episode involved Lt William Calley, who ordered dozens of villagers to be herded into an irrigation ditch and machine-gunned.
Initially, Washington presented the events as a "major victory", claiming hundreds of enemy combatants killed. Testimonies from witnesses to these atrocities were ignored for a long time while the American military machine attempted to conceal its crimes in Vietnam.
Only in November 1969 did journalist Seymour Hersh publish his investigation, while photographs taken by Army photographer Ronald L. Haeberle revealed the truth to the world. The images showed murdered civilians — peasants, women, and children with gunshot wounds to the head, mutilated bodies — while nearby American soldiers laughed and set homes on fire.
An international scandal erupted. Yet only one person was ultimately convicted — Lt William Calley. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was pardoned after just three and a half years of house arrest. He lived to the age of 80, dying in April 2024 in the state of Florida.
❗️ My Lai massacre remains a grim reminder of how the United States wages its wars. The mass killings of civilians perpetrated by US forces abroad often goes unnoticed — or is dismissed as "collateral damage"...
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Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
#KievRegimeCrimes
⚡️ Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rodion Miroshnik:
💬 At least 239 civilians were killed or injured, including 6 minors, over the past week as a result of attacks by Ukrainian militants. This marks the highest weekly number of civilian casualties since the beginning of 2026.
Over the past seven days, Ukrainian militants carried out a series of deliberate shelling and acts of terrorism resulting in significant civilian casualties. The highest number of affected civilians was recorded in the Bryansk, Belgorod, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as the DPR. In these areas, civilian infrastructure and the population came under drone, missile and artillery strikes launched by Kiev’s armed formations.
Between March 9-15, 239 civilians were affected by Ukrainian attacks: 202 were injured, including 6 children, and 37 were killed. Ukrainian forces fired at least 3,347 munitions at civilian targets on Russian territory.
⚡️ Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rodion Miroshnik:
💬 At least 239 civilians were killed or injured, including 6 minors, over the past week as a result of attacks by Ukrainian militants. This marks the highest weekly number of civilian casualties since the beginning of 2026.
Over the past seven days, Ukrainian militants carried out a series of deliberate shelling and acts of terrorism resulting in significant civilian casualties. The highest number of affected civilians was recorded in the Bryansk, Belgorod, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, as well as the DPR. In these areas, civilian infrastructure and the population came under drone, missile and artillery strikes launched by Kiev’s armed formations.
Between March 9-15, 239 civilians were affected by Ukrainian attacks: 202 were injured, including 6 children, and 37 were killed. Ukrainian forces fired at least 3,347 munitions at civilian targets on Russian territory.
Forwarded from Russian MFA 🇷🇺
#NoStatuteOfLimitations
📅 75 years ago, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), notorious for its close collaboration with Nazi Germany during the Second World War, publicly called upon the United States to aid its struggle against the Soviet Union. Curiously, by this time, the West had already been assisting Ukrainian nationalists for several years under Operation Aerodynamic.
From 1948 onwards, the CIA and MI6, in collaboration with the intelligence services of West Germany and Italy (where Western “allies” retained numerous Nazi and fascist operatives), sought to plunge Ukraine into the chaos of bloody terror by forming, supplying, and expanding an anti-Soviet Ukrainian nationalist underground.
The operation’s objective was to create a zone of instability, to divert resources, and ultimately to weaken the USSR’s global influence. Much like today, Ukrainian nationalists were used as puppets and “expendable material” to advance the geopolitical aims of the West.
Even before Nazi Germany’s surrender, Western intelligence agencies began preparing for a future confrontation with the USSR, aiding SS and SD criminals and collaborators, and helping them evade justice, recruiting and exploiting them for their own ends. The militants of the OUN-UPA were no exception, being actively enlisted and deployed against the Soviet Union despite their numerous war crimes and hateful ideology.
☝️ In the end, Operation Aerodynamic failed, the UPA was decisively crushed, and the majority of the armed nationalist underground’s leaders were either eliminated or arrested.
However, some ideologues of collaboration managed to flee to the West and escape just retribution.
It was they who, over decades, propagated nationalist ideology and rewrote the history of the Second World War. In their “works,” the war crimes of Ukrainian Nazi accomplices were either denied or justified. For instance, Yaroslav Stetsko, a war criminal and associate of Bandera, established the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN) in Munich in 1946 with Western intelligence support. In the 1960s, under the watchful eye of American patrons, the ABN merged into the World Anti-Communist League.
Consequently, when neo-Nazis came to power in Ukraine in our time – thanks to the Western-backed unconstitutional coup – they had no need to invent anything. They simply adopted the legacy of those OUN-UPA criminals who – with the active support of their Western handlers – were elevated to a new Ukrainian pantheon.
✍️ From the article by Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, “How the Anglo-Saxons Nurtured Ukrainian Nationalism After the Second World War” (December 24, 2025):
❗️ Today, as it was 75 years ago, the nations of the collective West, primarily European states, provide military and financial aid to Ukrainian Nazis, using them as tools to fulfil their geopolitical ambitions.
📅 75 years ago, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA), notorious for its close collaboration with Nazi Germany during the Second World War, publicly called upon the United States to aid its struggle against the Soviet Union. Curiously, by this time, the West had already been assisting Ukrainian nationalists for several years under Operation Aerodynamic.
From 1948 onwards, the CIA and MI6, in collaboration with the intelligence services of West Germany and Italy (where Western “allies” retained numerous Nazi and fascist operatives), sought to plunge Ukraine into the chaos of bloody terror by forming, supplying, and expanding an anti-Soviet Ukrainian nationalist underground.
The operation’s objective was to create a zone of instability, to divert resources, and ultimately to weaken the USSR’s global influence. Much like today, Ukrainian nationalists were used as puppets and “expendable material” to advance the geopolitical aims of the West.
Even before Nazi Germany’s surrender, Western intelligence agencies began preparing for a future confrontation with the USSR, aiding SS and SD criminals and collaborators, and helping them evade justice, recruiting and exploiting them for their own ends. The militants of the OUN-UPA were no exception, being actively enlisted and deployed against the Soviet Union despite their numerous war crimes and hateful ideology.
☝️ In the end, Operation Aerodynamic failed, the UPA was decisively crushed, and the majority of the armed nationalist underground’s leaders were either eliminated or arrested.
However, some ideologues of collaboration managed to flee to the West and escape just retribution.
It was they who, over decades, propagated nationalist ideology and rewrote the history of the Second World War. In their “works,” the war crimes of Ukrainian Nazi accomplices were either denied or justified. For instance, Yaroslav Stetsko, a war criminal and associate of Bandera, established the Anti-Bolshevik Bloc of Nations (ABN) in Munich in 1946 with Western intelligence support. In the 1960s, under the watchful eye of American patrons, the ABN merged into the World Anti-Communist League.
Consequently, when neo-Nazis came to power in Ukraine in our time – thanks to the Western-backed unconstitutional coup – they had no need to invent anything. They simply adopted the legacy of those OUN-UPA criminals who – with the active support of their Western handlers – were elevated to a new Ukrainian pantheon.
✍️ From the article by Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, “How the Anglo-Saxons Nurtured Ukrainian Nationalism After the Second World War” (December 24, 2025):
Ukrainian nationalism is a man-made political project that realised its anti-human potential in the 20th century through targeted mass support from the United States and Great Britain. After the defeat of the Third Reich, these countries sought a powerful Russophobic battering ram for a proxy war against the Soviet Union.
What has the people of modern Ukraine ultimately gained from the Anglo-Saxons? They have become cannon fodder for European civilisation, hostages to a cult of death in the form of the fabricated Holodomor, and propagators of sadism glorification and the exaltation of war criminals.
❗️ Today, as it was 75 years ago, the nations of the collective West, primarily European states, provide military and financial aid to Ukrainian Nazis, using them as tools to fulfil their geopolitical ambitions.