⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's statement on the attack on the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Prague (March 27, 2026)

💬 On March 27, Ambassador of the Czech Republic to the Russian Federation Daniel Koštoval was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

The diplomat was issued a strong protest over the attack carried out on the evening of March 26 against the Russian Centre for Science and Culture in Prague using bottles filled with an incendiary mixture.

Deep concern over the incident was expressed.

❗️ We demand that the Czech side conduct a prompt and competent investigation into this crime, identify and punish those responsible, and take the necessary measures to ensure the security of Russian missions in Prague.

🇺🇳 On March 25, at the initiative of Ghana and the African Union, the UN General Assembly held a plenary meeting to mark the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

During the meeting, the Assembly adopted the resolution “Declaration of the Trafficking of Enslaved Africans and Racialized Chattel Enslavement of Africans as the Gravest Crime against Humanity”.

Voting results:

✅ In favour – 123, including Russia
❌ Against – 3 (Argentina, Israel and the United States)
🟨 Abstentions – 52 Member States

Russia welcomes the adoption of this historic document.

Moscow is convinced that the resolution will become a major milestone on the path toward restoring historical justice and will make a substantial contribution to strengthening the international legal framework for addressing the consequences of colonialism, as well as combating racism and racial discrimination.

The Western countries and those aligned with them – who withheld support for the document – demonstrated hypocrisy, disregard for the suffering endured by the peoples of Africa, and an unwillingness to take responsibility for the crimes committed during the colonial period.

In its statement, the Russian delegation recalled the Soviet Union’s key role in the adoption of the 1960 Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, as well as in assisting African nations in their national liberation struggle, state-building, economic development, defence capacity and the training of national personnel.

Russia remains ready today to take coordinated international steps to eradicate all manifestations of colonialism, which is assuming increasingly sophisticated new forms.

Moscow is committed to close joint work with its African friends on this issue, including within the framework of the #RussiaAfrica Partnership Forum.

#CrimesOfColonialism
 
⛓️ On March 28, 1658, the merchant vessel Amersfoort, operated by the Dutch East India Company, delivered the first large group of enslaved people to the Dutch colony in the south of Africa.

During the Dutch-Portuguese War (1602–1663), the Amersfoort, operated by the Dutch East India Company,attacked a Portuguese slave ship en route to Brazil, seizing its cargo along with 250 Angolan slaves on board.

◾️ Due to one-third of those being too young and unfit for forced labour, the Dutch discarded them, ultimately transporting only 174 individuals to the colony.

The arrival of the Amersfoort at the Cape Peninsula marked the southward expansion of slavery on the continent, another tragic page in the history of the African continent and the European colonisers' crimes.

📜 As is widely recognised, the organised slave trade in Africa began with the Portuguese, who had explored and developed it since the early 15th century. The forts they built along the western coast later became major centres of slave trading.

Eventually, Spain, Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands emerged as the principal transporters of enslaved Africans.

By the mid-17th century, the East India Company, which held a near monopoly on the spice and exotic goods trade in Europe, helped fuel the Dutch “Golden Age” through its extensive slave-trading operations across Asia.

After establishing a presence in Southern Africa in 1652 and failing to compel the local population into labour, Dutch colonisers began importing small groups of enslaved people from Southeast Asia and the islands in the Indian Ocean. This later expanded into large-scale raids within the African continent – in Mozambique, Zanzibar, and Dahomey (present-day Benin and Togo).

The colony’s reliance on slavery meant that enslaved people were entirely stripped of their basic rights, with their children born into slavery, families frequently separated by force, and physical violence being routine.

Despite a colonial slave system built on fear and brutality, enslaved people repeatedly organised and carried out major uprisings.

🌍 #NoToColonialism  #RussiaAfrica

#FacesOfVictory

🗓 Marina Raskova, a legendary navigator, a symbol of courage and a source of inspiration for thousands of young women who dreamed of flying, was born on March 28, 1912.

Her aviation career began in 1931, when she was hired as a draftswoman in the air navigation laboratory of the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy in Moscow. Marina was a technical assistant of the laboratory head, pilot Alexander Belyakov, and attended lectures at the academy, where she became keen on navigation, subsequently enrolling at the correspondence department of the Leningrad Institute of Aviation.

✈️ In 1934, she received the diploma of navigator, and a year later she learned to fly at the Central Flying Club in Moscow. She took part in flights since 1935, setting several world flight distance records.

Her main achievement was the famous non-stop flight of the Rodina aircraft from Moscow to the Far East with an all-female crew, which made her a national celebrity.

🎖 In 1938, Marina Raskova, Valentina Grizodubova and Polina Osipenko became the first women to be awarded the titles of Hero of the Soviet Union for that flight.

When the Great Patriotic War began in 1941, Raskova was instructed to establish female air force units. In October 1941, she created the night bomber aviation regiment that flew the U-2 (Polikarpov Po-2) aircraft, and a dive bomber regiment flying the Petlyakov Pe-2 planes. In December 1942, one of these regiments was deployed near Stalingrad, where fierce fighting was underway.

The famous 46th Taman Guards Night Bomber Regiment, which Raskova created, instilled uncontrollable fear in the Germans, who called it the Night Witches.

🕯 Marina Raskova did not take part in fighting. On January 4, 1943, her plane crashed on its way to the frontline near the village of Mikhailovka, Saratov Region, due to bad weather. The urn with her ashes was buried in the Kremlin Wall on Red Square in Moscow.

#Victory81

Results of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council Meeting

Members of the Eurasian Intergovernmental Council reviewed a broad range of issues related to Eurasian economic integration, including the adoption of digital technologies and artificial intelligence, support for industrial cooperation projects, improvement of Eurasian technology platforms, consumer rights protection, trade development, customs cooperation, and macroeconomic forecasting.

✅ In particular, the heads of government of the EAEU member states were briefed on the progress of preparations for a Joint Statement on the Responsible Development of Artificial Intelligence within the EAEU framework.

✅ Amendments were also introduced to the rules governing financial support for cooperation projects, aimed at addressing gaps in the regulatory framework and enhancing the transparency of project selection and approval procedures.
Additionally, the operation of Eurasian technology platforms has been streamlined to strengthen the competitiveness of the industrial sector. The updated framework systematizes engagement with these platforms.

✅ The socio-economic development results of the EAEU member states for 2025 were summarized. Over the course of the year, the bloc’s combined GDP grew by 1.7%, with the primary drivers being the services sector, construction, and robust domestic consumption, supported by record-low unemployment.

✅ A new Consumer Rights Protection Programme through 2030 was adopted. The first phase of joint state efforts has resulted in the establishment of an effective consumer rights protection system and laid the groundwork for greater transparency in buyer-seller relations.

📷: EEC

#EAEU