⚡️ On Russia's win in international arbitration regarding the rights of a coastal state in the Black Sea, the Sea of Azov, and the Kerch Strait

⚖️ Today, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (#PCA) in The Hague issued its final ruling in the 10-year arbitral proceedings between Russia and Ukraine concerning the rights of a coastal state in the Kerch Strait, the Sea of Azov, and the waters of the Black Sea surrounding Crimea.

The dispute was heard by an international arbitral tribunal in accordance with the procedure set out in Annex VII to the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Composed of five independent arbitrators from Algeria, the UK, Mexico, Russia, and the Republic of Korea, the arbitral tribunal passed down a unanimous ruling.

🇷🇺 The case, which carries major geopolitical, legal, and historical significance, ended in a decisive victory for the Russian Federation.

❌ Numerous claims by Ukraine which accused Russia of violating dozens of provisions of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea have been rejected.

Kiev’s efforts to challenge Russia's sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula and the adjacent maritime areas have failed. The tribunal dismissed Ukraine’s claims for the return of control over hydrocarbon, fishery, and other resources in the waters of Crimea and the Azov region, as well as any “compensation” or “reparations” from Russia for their use and alleged “damage”.

Ukraine’s attempt, supported by Western countries, to designate the Kerch Strait as “international” with the right of passage for vessels of all countries, including warships, has failed as well. For the first time in history, the legally binding award formally recognised the status of the Kerch Strait and the Sea of Azov as internal waters forming part of sovereign state territory.

The tribunal rejected Kiev’s request to declare Russia’s assertion of sovereignty over the entire Sea of Azov unlawful (as “aggravation of the dispute”) following the Donbass, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions’ accession to Russia. Nothing in the award prevents Russia from exercising its sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction in the maritime areas contiguous to the Crimean Peninsula, the Sea of Azov, and the Azov-Kerch waters.

The tribunal dismissed as absurd and cynical Ukraine’s demand for dismantling the Crimean Bridge. The very fact of submission of such a non-starter demand demonstrated inhumane nature of the Kiev regime, which allegedly continues to seek to “punish” Crimeans for their choice in favour of Russia. Ukraine’s claims that the Crimean Bridge obstructs navigation in these waters were found to be unfounded.

Ukraine’s allegations of violations by Russia of obligations concerning the protection of underwater cultural heritage were found to be entirely unsubstantiated and unsupported by evidence.

The tribunal also dismissed all Ukrainian claims regarding alleged environmental damage caused by Russia. It was established that Russia has an effective environmental monitoring system in place.

👉 The only issue on which the tribunal made a “nod” towards Ukraine concerned partial non-compliance with environmental impact assessment procedures in the construction of the Crimean Bridge, the energy bridge, and the gas pipeline across the Kerch Strait.

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The Russian Side found the outcome of the proceedings satisfactory.

☝️This arbitral ruling represents a significant defeat for Ukraine and the West in the “legal warfare” waged against Russia.

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⚡В связи с обвинениями со стороны киевского режима и западных стран в адрес России в якобы прицельных ударах по Киево-Печерской лавре Министерство обороны Российской Федерации сделало официальное заявление.

❗Согласно информации российского военного ведомства:

🔺Вооруженными Силами Российской Федерации в ответ на террористические акты киевского режима нанесен массированный удар высокоточным оружием большой дальности воздушного, наземного и морского базирования, ударными беспилотными летательными аппаратами по объектам оборонно-промышленного комплекса в городах Киев, Харьков и Днепропетровск.

🔺Вооруженные Силы Российской Федерации по объектам гражданской инфраструктуры удары не планируют и не наносят.

🔺 По подтвержденным данным, комплекс зданий Киево-Печерской лавры был поражен ракетой американского зенитного ракетного комплекса «Патриот».


‼️ Российская сторона строго придерживается своих обязательств по Гаагской конвенции 1954 г. о защите культурных ценностей в случае вооруженного конфликта.

⚡️ Комментарий официального представителя МИД России М.В.Захаровой в связи с атакой ВСУ на автобус с белорусскими детьми в Брянской области (17 июня 2026 года)

🔉 Аудиокомментарий М.В.Захаровой

💬 17 июня киевский нацистский режим совершил очередное чудовищное преступление. На трассе А-240 в Почепском районе Брянской области дроны ВСУ, снаряжённые поражающими элементами, атаковали гражданский автобус, перевозивший на отдых в Геленджик детей из спортивных школ из белорусских Гомеля и Речицы.

В салоне находились 44 человека, включая 28 детей. Погибла сопровождавшая несовершеннолетних женщина. Восемь человек, включая шестерых юных спортсменов, получили ранения.

Все пострадавшие оперативно доставлены в Брянскую областную больницу, где им оказывается медицинская помощь. Состояние одного мужчины и двух детей тяжёлое. Остальные пассажиры в ближайшее время будут возвращены домой.

Следственный комитет России квалифицировал это преступление как террористический акт и возбудил уголовное дело. Начата работа по установлению обстоятельств этого преступления и причастных к нему лиц. Уверены, что все виновные понесут наказание.

Выражаем глубокие соболезнования родным и близким погибшей и желаем скорейшего выздоровления всем пострадавшим. Находимся в прямом контакте с МИД Беларуси и Посольством Республики в Москве. Солидарны с нашими белорусскими друзьями и готовы оказать им необходимое содействие.

❗️Решительно осуждаем это гнусное преступление режима Зеленского, который вопреки своим лицемерным заявлениям о якобы приверженности защите детей, сознательно подвергает их опасности и без колебания, как это было в Старобельске, делает их мишенью спланированных ударов ВСУ.

Призываем международные структуры, национальные правительства и мировую общественность дать честную оценку преступным деяниям режима Зеленского и решительно осудить этот теракт. Молчание будет означать его одобрение и поощрение киевских террористов на совершение новых кровавых преступлений.

⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova's statement on the attack by Ukrainian militants on a bus carrying Belarusian children in Russia’s Bryansk Region

🔉 Audio statement by Maria Zakharova (in Russian)

On June 17, the Nazi regime in Kiev committed yet another monstrous crime.

On the A-240 highway in the Pochep District of Russia’s Bryansk Region, Ukrainian drones equipped with shrapnel attacked a civilian bus carrying children from sports schools in the Belarusian cities of Gomel and Rechitsa to Gelendzhik for vacation.

There were 44 people on board, including 28 children. The woman accompanying the minors was killed. Eight people, including six young athletes, were injured.

All those injured were promptly taken to the Bryansk Regional Hospital, where they are receiving medical assistance. One man and two children are in serious condition. The remaining passengers will be returned home shortly.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has classified this crime as a terrorist act and opened a criminal case. Work is ongoing to establish all the circumstances of this crime and identify those involved. We are confident that all perpetrators will be brought to justice.

We express our deep condolences to the family and loved ones of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to all those injured.

We are in direct contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and the Embassy of the of Belarus in Moscow.

We stand in solidarity with our Belarusian friends and are ready to provide them with the necessary assistance.

❗️ We strongly condemn this vile crime by the Zelensky regime, which, despite its hypocritical claims of allegedly being committed to protecting children, deliberately puts them in danger and, without hesitation – as was the case in Starobelsk – makes them the target of planned AFU strikes.

We call on international structures, national governments and the global public to give an honest assessment of the Zelensky regime’s criminal acts and strongly condemn this terrorist attack.

Silence will mean approval of this crime and encouragement for Kiev terrorists to commit new bloody atrocities.

#KievRegimeCrimes

🎙️Ответы Посла России в Дании В.В.Барбина на вопросы газеты "Известия"(18 июня 2026 г.)

❓Вопрос: Продолжают ли США попытки овладеть островом? Стремятся ли США получить суверенитет над Гренландией для увеличения своих военных возможностей на острове?

💬 Ответ: Конфликт вокруг Гренландии не исчез. Однако ведущиеся с января 2026 г. по инициативе Копенгагена переговоры между Данией, Гренландией и США об обеспечении американских интересов на острове позволили вывести его из публичного пространства.

В настоящее время США располагают на Гренландии одной военно-космической базой Питуффик и намереваются получить три-четыре базы дополнительно. Датчане и гренландцы не возражают. Как следует из «утечек» в СМИ о ходе переговоров, камнем преткновения стал статус баз США. Американцы хотят быть на острове не гостями, а хозяевами и распространить суверенитет США на территорию баз. В ответ слышат, что Гренландия не поступится своим суверенитетом, даже если речь идет о территории размером в почтовую марку.

Схожая ситуация и по вопросам экономического присутствия США на острове, включая расширение доступа американских компаний к разработке его минеральных ресурсов. Гренландия заинтересована в развитии экономического сотрудничества с США, но не приемлет требования о предоставлении американцам права вето на инвестиции в экономику острова из других стран.

В Копенгагене исходят из того, что США не откажутся от притязаний на владение Гренландией даже в случае успеха переговоров, но реализовать такие намерения им тогда будет сложнее.

❓Вопрос: Предпринимала ли Дания в последнее время действия, нацеленные на усиление безопасности острова?

💬 Ответ: США объясняют свои претензии на владение Гренландией якобы недостаточным вниманием Дании к обороне этого острова. В этой связи Копенгаген с января 2025 г. выделил на укрепление своего военного потенциала в арктических широтах порядка 6,5 млрд долл. США. Дания намеривается, в частности, разместить на Гренландии истребители F-35. Будут также закуплены фрегаты и патрульные корабли арктического класса, транспортные и патрульные самолеты, БПЛА большого радиуса действия для контроля морской зоны в районе острова, а также средства борьбы с подводными лодками.

Милитаризация острова и Арктики в целом ведется под прикрытием утверждений о якобы растущей российской военной угрозе, хотя до недавнего времени Копенгаген отрицал наличие военной активности России в районе Гренландии.

Оборону Гренландии Копенгаген стремится представить как ответственность всей НАТО, включая США, с тем, чтобы с одной стороны, дезавуировать американские обвинения в свой адрес, а с другой, - продемонстрировать США поддержку европейских стран территориальной целостности Дании.

Если и раньше на Гренландии и в Арктике в национальном качестве присутствовали вооруженные силы неарктических стран НАТО, прежде всего Великобритании, Франции и ФРГ, то с начала 2026 г. по инициативе Дании такая военная активность была институционализована под эгидой НАТО.

Запущена операция НАТО «Арктический часовой», целью которой является устрашение России и взятие под контроль судоходных маршрутов, включая выход России из Арктики в Северный Атлантический океан.

Арктика, которая была регионом низкой напряженности и сотрудничества, усилиями НАТО при активном участии Дании превращается сегодня в зону конфронтации и противостояния.

🎙️Answers by Vladimir Barbin, Russian Ambassador to Denmark, to questions from the newspaper "Izvestia", June 18 2026

❓Question: Is the US continuing its attempts to take control of the island? Is the US seeking sovereignty over Greenland in order to increase its military capabilities on the island?

💬 Answer: The conflict over Greenland has not ended. However, negotiations between Denmark, Greenland and the United States on ensuring American interests on the island, which have been underway since January 2026 at the initiative of Copenhagen, have made it possible to remove contradictions from the public space.

At the moment, the United States has one Pituffik military space base in Greenland, but they want to additionally receive three or four more bases. The Danes and Greenlanders don't mind. However, as follows from media leaks about the negotiations, the status of the US bases became a stumbling block. Americans do not want to be guests on the island, but hosts and extend US sovereignty to the territory of the bases. In response, they hear that Greenland will not compromise its sovereignty, even if it is a territory the size of a postage stamp.

The situation is similar with regard to the US economic presence on the island, including expanding access of American companies to the development of its mineral resources. Greenland is interested in developing economic cooperation with the United States, but does not accept the requirement to grant Americans the right to veto investments in the island's economy from other countries.

In Copenhagen they proceed from the fact that the United States will not give up its claims to Greenland, even if the negotiations are successful, but then it will be more difficult for them to realize such intentions.

❓Question: Has Denmark taken any measures recently aimed at strengthening the island’s security?

💬 Answer: The United States explains its claims to Greenland's ownership by Denmark's allegedly insufficient attention to the island's defense. Since January 2025, Copenhagen has allocated about $6.5 billion to strengthen its military potential in the Arctic latitudes. Denmark intends, in particular, to deploy F-35 fighter jets in Greenland. Arctic-class frigates and patrol ships, transport and patrol aircraft, long-range UAVs for monitoring the marine zone near the island and anti-submarine warfare equipment will also be purchased.

The militarization of the island and the Arctic as a whole is being conducted under the guise of allegations of an allegedly growing Russian military threat, although until recently Copenhagen denied the existence of Russian military activity in the Greenland region.

Copenhagen, for its part, seeks to present Greenland's defense as the responsibility of the entire NATO, including the United States. This allows both to disavow the American accusations against themselves and to demonstrate European countries' support for Denmark's territorial integrity.

Until last year, the armed forces of non-Arctic NATO countries, primarily Great Britain, France and Germany, were present in Greenland and in the Arctic as a whole in a national capacity. But since the beginning of 2026, at the initiative of Denmark, such military activity has been institutionalized under the auspices of NATO. The NATO Arctic Sentry Operation has been launched, the purpose of which is to intimidate Russia and take control of shipping routes, including Russia's exit from the Arctic to the North Atlantic Ocean.

The Arctic, which was a region of low tension and cooperation, is turning into a zone of confrontation through the efforts of NATO with the active participation of Denmark.

📰 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's article «Ukraine, Europe and Global Security» (June 19, 2026)

This article by Sergey Lavrov was originally planned for publication by the European outlet Politico Europe, but at the last moment, the editorial board decided to cancel its publication.

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«Ukraine, Europe and Global Security»

Some Reflections on Resolving the Ukrainian Crisis, Europe and Global Security

✍️ More than two decades of negotiation with Europe, as part of the collective West, leads to only one conclusion: engaging Russia in dialogue has served as a diplomatic smokescreen for the geopolitical expansion of Western institutions, above all NATO and the EU, eastwards, right up to Russia's borders.

☝️ Europe's complicity in fuelling the Ukrainian crisis is undeniable.

In 2013, the EU rejected outright our proposal for a compromise on the association agreement – a deal Brussels had long been pressing Viktor Yanukovich to sign.

It is worth recalling: Ukraine was offered unilateral market opening, without reciprocal commitments – terms that would have proved incompatible with Kiev's continued membership in the CIS free-trade zone. When Viktor Yanukovich requested a deferral, the Europeans incited street riots which swiftly escalated into a coup d'état in Kiev in February 2014.

Russia, for its part, explored every diplomatic avenue to defuse Europe's security crisis. However, in January 2022, the US and NATO rejected Russia's proposal for legally binding mutual security guarantees.

Following the launch of the special military operation, the united Europe threw its support behind the British Prime Minister's efforts to sabotage the Istanbul negotiations between Russia and Ukraine. Boris Johnson's appeal to Kiev – "don't sign anything, just fight" – slammed the door on genuine diplomacy for the foreseeable future.

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Additional key points:

• The real current objective of Europe's leaders is not to negotiate with Russia. It is to shore up the Zelensky regime and preserve it as a launchpad for continued confrontation against Russia.

• European leaders are scrambling to secure a ceasefire as quickly as possible and for one reason only: to prevent the collapse of Ukrainian military on the battlefield. The plan is to "freeze" the conflict without addressing its root causes, and then rapidly deploy military contingents from the Anglo-French "coalition of the willing" onto Ukrainian soil.

• The united Europe continues to dream of expansion. It intends to absorb Ukraine and Moldova, while pulling Armenia into its sphere of influence. As for Ukraine, it is increasingly eyed as the "striking fist" of a future European military force, independent of the US and independent of NATO.

❗️ This state of affairs poses serious threats to global security. A direct confrontation between NATO and Russia could rapidly escalate into an exchange of nuclear strikes, with catastrophic consequences.

• European leaders should recognize that the model of regional security built in Europe over decades, ever since the adoption of the Helsinki Final Act in 1975, has been destroyed by their own hands. 👉 And it will never be restored.

• We must now move toward creating a continent-wide security architecture open to all Eurasian countries and that reflects today's #MultipolarWorld.

• The principle of equal and indivisible security trampled upon by the Euro-Atlantists, can be embodied within a new Eurasian architecture. When the time is ripe, Europe too will be able to join this great effort.

• Meaningful dialogue requires the restoration of trust, shattered by the anti-Russian actions of the West, and Europe as part of it, in the post-Cold War era.

❌ Trust cannot be restored, nor can dialogue be resumed, through ultimatums such as the one issued to Russia in London on 7 June 2026.

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