Russia's Defence Ministry:

⚡️ On June 5, 185 Russian servicemen were returned from territory controlled by the Kiev regime in exchange for 185 Ukrainian POWs.

The returned Russian servicemen are currently in the Republic of Belarus, where Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova is providing assistance.

After receiving the necessary psychological and medical assistance, the Russian servicemen will be transported to the Russian Federation for further treatment and rehabilitation at medical facilities of the Russian Defence Ministry.

🤝 The United Arab Emirates provided humanitarian mediation assistance in securing the return of the Russian servicemen.

С Днем русского языка! 🇷🇺✨
И с днем рождения великого Александра Сергеевича Пушкина — человека, чье имя навсегда стало символом красоты, богатства и силы русского слова! 🖋️

Безусловно, русский — один из самых сложных, но при этом один из самых богатых, выразительных, насыщенных и неповторимых языков в мире. Язык, в котором можно передать тончайшие оттенки чувств, придумать бесконечное количество новых смыслов и… иногда даже сломать мозг 😄

Вот несколько забавных фактов о русском языке, которыми хочется поделиться в этот праздник:

📚 Только в русском языке можно составить вопрос из пяти стоящих подряд букв алфавита: «Где ёж?» 🦔
(Г-Д-Е-Ё-Ж — всё по порядку!)

📚 В русском языке существуют слова с тремя буквами «е» подряд:
«длинношеее» и «змееед» 🐍

📚 Большинство слов с буквой «ф» пришли к нам из других языков — эта буква настоящий «иностранный гость» в русском алфавите 🌍

📚 Самое длинное слово русского языка —
«превысокомногорассмотрительствующий»
Попробуйте произнести с первого раза! 😅

📚 Самое длинное наречие —
«неудовлетворительно»
Зато звучит весьма удовлетворительно 😄

📚 А самое длинное междометие —
«физкульт-привет!» 💪

Русский язык удивляет, восхищает и доказывает: слова — это настоящее волшебство! ✨

Учите русский язык, друзья! Читайте Пушкина, играйте словами и открывайте для себя этот удивительный мир снова и снова!

#РусскийДомКоломбо #ШриЛанка #ДеньРусскогоЯзыка #РусскийЯзык #Пушкин #ВеликийИМогучий #ЛюблюРусскийЯзык #ИнтересныеФакты #МирСлов

🗓 June 6 is #RussianLanguageDay in Russia.

✍️ #OnThisDay in 1799 the great Russian poet, writer, playwright, historian, publicist, creator of the modern Russian literary language Alexander #Pushkin was born.

🇷🇺 On June 6, 2011, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree on the annual celebration of Russian Language Day in order to “preserve, support and develop the Russian language as a national treasure of the peoples of the Russian Federation, a tool of international communication and an integral part of the cultural and spiritual heritage of world civilization”.

Russian is one of the most popular languages in the world.

It has a rich literary heritage and is one of the most dynamic languages. Today, Russian is spoken by over 250 million citizens of Russia and other countries.

Watch the video to learn more interesting facts 👆

#RussianLanguage

Пушкин навсегда! 🎩

День русского языка — это не только про красивые строки, школьные томики и великие цитаты. Это еще и про человека, который создал этот невероятный язык — живой, яркий, дерзкий.

Александр Сергеевич Пушкин — гений, которого невозможно было поместить в рамки. Поэт, писатель, мыслитель, создатель современного русского литературного языка… и настоящий бунтарь с горячим сердцем и острым умом.

Он спорил, влюблялся, рисковал, бросал вызовы, шутил так, что его цитируют спустя два века, и писал так, что его слова до сих пор звучат современно.

⚔️ 25 вызовов на дуэль
❤️ Бесконечная страсть к жизни
✒️ Невероятная сила слова

Именно таким был Пушкин — не только великим, но и живым. Поэтому сегодня мы хотим представить его тоже немного по-новому.

Ко Дню русского языка мы специально перевели и переозвучили на английском языке одну из самых любимых сказок Александра Сергеевича — «Сказку о мёртвой царевне и о семи богатырях» 🍎

Как необычно звучит пушкинская история в современной английской интерпретации! Но самое главное — теперь ее магию смогут почувствовать и те, кто пока только знакомится с русским языком и русской культурой.

Пушкин принадлежит России.
Но его гений — всему миру. ✨

С праздником, друзья!
С Днем русского языка!
Читайте, слушайте и открывайте Пушкина заново!

#РусскийДомКоломбо #ШриЛанка #ДеньРусскогоЯзыка #РусскийЯзык #Пушкин #ВеликийИМогучий #МирСлов #МертваяЦаревна #СказкиПушкина

🎥 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s video address on Russian Language Day (Moscow, June 6, 2026)

💬 Friends,

Congratulations on Russian Language Day, a holiday celebrated worldwide on the birthday of Alexander Pushkin, our great poet and creator of the language of modern Russian literature.

The Russian language is endlessly colourful and expressive. It serves as the foundation of the cultural, spiritual and historical code of our country – a civilisation state.

The language of Alexander Pushkin and Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a vital means of international communication. The “great and mighty” Russian language is one of the most commonly used languages in the world, including in the digital sphere. It is one of the official UN languages and the language of some other multilateral organisations. Speaking Russian means to have a key to the treasury of world art, advanced scientific achievements, and the most extensive economic opportunities.

I especially want to emphasise the unifying role of the Russian language in the efforts to strengthen peace and neighbourliness in Eurasia, shaping a new security architecture in Eurasia, and mutually beneficial cooperation. Russia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan upheld President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s initiative to establish the International Organisation for the Russian Language.

In March 2026 in Moscow, the first ministerial conference of this organisation marked the beginning of its work. It is important to note that all countries sharing its values can join the International Organisation for the Russian Language.

Some of our unquestionable priorities include the protection and support of those people who consider Russian their mother tongue. We will continue to counter any incidents of language discrimination and Russophobia decisively – wherever they take place. We will certainly fight for restoring the rights of those Russian and Russian-speaking people who have been openly terrorised by the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev. Resolving this matter is among the necessary conditions for a long-term settlement of the Ukrainian conflict.

And, of course, we will continue to do what it takes to help our compatriots abroad as well as our foreign partners when it comes to learning Russian, studying in Russian, fulfilling cultural and educational projects.

Friends,

The year 2026 has numerous commemorative dates associated with the Russian language. We are marking 225 years since the birth of Vladimir Dal, creator of the Explanatory Dictionary of the Living Great Russian Language, the 200th birthday of public figure and unrivalled satirist Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, and the 90th birthday of prominent linguist and President of St Petersburg State University, founder of the Russian World Foundation Lyudmila Verbitskaya.

This year, the Foreign Ministry and the Russian World Foundation established an award for contribution to global Russian studies, named after Vitaly Kostomarov, outstanding linguist who stood at the origins of Alexander Pushkin State Institute of the Russian Language. This award is for merited teachers of the Russian language and literature from the general, higher and extracurricular education in foreign countries. Furthermore, the award will celebrate significant achievements in translation and research. We expect the first awards ceremony to take place this year in Moscow.

I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to everybody who loves the Russian language, the powerful Russian word, and who contributes to preserving the multifaceted heritage of the Russian world.

Happy Russian Language Day and my best wishes.

PRESS RELEASE of the Russian Embassy in Sri Lanka

June 6, 2026

On the misleading information made by the Delegation of the European Union in Sri Lanka against the Russian Federation in social media "X" (former Twitter)

The Delegation of the European Union in Sri Lanka has argued that sanctions against Russia are allegedly working: oil and gas revenues are falling, borrowing costs are rising, key markets are being lost, and financing the war against Ukraine is becoming increasingly difficult.

This claims are absolutely untrue and misleading. Italy, Spain, and Greece are increasing LNG purchases from Russia. Hungary and Slovakia intend to continue receiving Russian oil via the “Druzhba” pipeline. The United Kingdom has agreed for indefinite period to purchase petroleum products made from Russian oil from third countries.

In this regard, we would like to provide honest statistics: EU's public debt has risen to 81.7 percent of GDP in 2025. The worst figures are well known: Greece has 146%, Italy 137%, France 115%, and Belgium 108%. Russia, by the way, has just 16.4%.

The EU budget deficit in 2025 will be 3.1% of GDP. Countries with the highest deficits include Poland (7.3%), Belgium (5.2%), France (5.1%), and the United States (5.9%). Russia's is only 2.6%.

Russian Federation has one of the lowest unemployment rates among all industrialized countries - approximately 2.2% of the economically active population. In Japan, it's 2.5%, in the eurozone, 5.9%.

Objective figures clearly show who is suffering more damage from sanctions.

❗️It's high time for Brussels bureaucrats to stop misleading the international community about Russia's alleged economic collapse. It would be far more expedient to stop spending European taxpayers' money on supporting the corrupt, Nazi’ regime in Kiev.

The Embassy reserves its right to rigid reaction to any attempts to organize anti-Russian messages or actions.

P.S. If your house is made of glass don’t throw stones.

🎙 Statement by President of Russia Vladimir Putin at the plenary session of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum (Saint Petersburg, June 5, 2026)

Key talking points:

• We are witnessing turmoil in the energy markets and tensions being provoked in certain regions, primarily in the Middle East, and how the short-sighted EU bureaucracy policies are being implemented to the accompaniment of aggressive rhetoric and leading to Europe continuing to lose its standing in the global economy, while also undermining regional and global security. In fact, European elites are inciting chaos and are trying to embroil ever more countries into it.

These processes did not arise all by themselves; they are the result of the world undergoing the largest structural transformation in decades. This transformation is not a transition from one phase of a cycle to another. We are witnessing a change in the paradigm of global development.

***

• It has become clear that investment plans and business development steps may face serious risk where the external infrastructure on which they rely could be used against them. Therefore, countries are beginning to develop their own technological solutions, create their own supply routes, and build their own institutions.

Russia is experiencing these transformations firsthand. Although pressure on our country persists, the changing global landscape has also created greater room for manoeuvre. New partnerships are emerging, new financial and technological solutions are being developed, and access to promising markets is expanding. Against this backdrop, Russia views global change not only as a source of challenges but also as a tremendous opportunity. To make the most of these opportunities, we seek to act swiftly and pragmatically.

***

• The world becomes more equitable when economic growth is distributed more broadly and opportunities become available to billions of people who have long remained on the periphery of the global economy. It is very important that these new centres of growth seek to shape their own development paths, increase their share of value creation, and build their own brands, standards, and capabilities.

If you look at the global GDP dynamics of the last five years, you will see that almost half of its annual growth, 49%, is accounted for by #BRICS countries, whereas the contribution of the so-called Group of Seven is estimated at 18%.

***

• Sanctions and, basically, the theft of Russia’s international reserves have had an irreversible effect on the positions of the world currencies, the US dollar and the euro. This is an objective reality that cannot be ignored. Today, every country – let me stress, every country without exception – understands that, like Russia, it could at any moment lose access to assets lawfully held in dollars or euros, as well as to Western financial and payment infrastructure.

We recognise that this ultimately boils down to the issue of unfair competition. The specific pretexts may vary, and they can always be found. In Russia’s case, it was the conflict in Ukraine. In other instances, it may be developments in the Middle East, conflicts in Africa, or even a country’s stance on LGBT-related issues. A justification can always be found. But the underlying problem remains the same: this is unfair competition.

• Importantly, possessing an independent technological base is critical for countries with large populations, vast territories, and distinctive cultures. Such countries cannot act merely as users of foreign-made solutions, because in that case they risk becoming objects of control by external platforms. And how those platforms are used is another matter.

• In essence, major countries – true civilisations – face a historic choice:

👉 either they create their own platform and technological ecosystems,
👉 or they become a digital periphery.

There should be no illusions about this. Foreign services may initially be user friendly, but over time the cost of such dependency will inevitably become apparent.

📄 Full text of the statement

Registration is now open for the International Scientific Physics Olympiad (ISPhO), to be held online from 21 to 30 June.

📈 ISPhO aims to foster students’ interest in advanced physics and provide participants with a unique opportunity to gain valuable experience in solving and modelling theoretical and experimental problems.

➡️ The Olympiad is conducted in a remote format; the working language is English. Tasks are pre-discussed and translated into the participants’ national languages.

☝️ Each country may enter a team of up to five students and two team leaders; individual registrations are also accepted. The age limit is under 20 years as of 31 June 2026.

🏙 There is no registration fee.

🔗 For further information and registration, please visit the official Olympiad website.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​