Weekly Briefing Selections: Part One

Yesterday’s weekly briefing by Maria Zakharova was a marathon event as many of her remarks prior to the Q&A were very lengthy, the video is over three hours long. As a result, only a few selections will be provided beginning with Ukraine that will try to remain close to a similar topical pattern:

On the Ukrainian crisis

Ukrainian militants continue to cynically attack civilian targets in Russian cities in Donbass, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk regions. Multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), large-caliber artillery, shells, including those with cluster warheads, as well as drones are used.

On November 11 of this year, the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked the village of Malye Kopani, Kherson region. Two civilians were killed and two others were injured. On the same day, in Donetsk and Horlivka, as a result of Ukrainian shelling, two people were killed and two more were wounded.

On November 12 of this year, a woman and a resident of Oleshky, Kherson region, were killed by shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and one person was wounded in Nova Kakhovka.

On November 13 of this year, the village of Novenkoye in the Suzemsky District of the Bryansk Region was shelled. In the Kursk region, as a result of the dropping of explosive devices from a UAV, two people were injured in the Glushkovsky and Sudzhansky districts.

On November 13 of this year, Donetsk was again subjected to barbaric shelling by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. One person was killed and five others were injured. On that day, in the village of Koloski (DPR), the Ukrainian armed formations attacked a construction camp with a kamikaze UAV. One person was killed.

Ukrainian neo-Nazis do not stop using terrorist methods. On November 8, in Lugansk, a deputy of the LPR People's Council, former head of the LPR Joint Centre for Control and Coordination, and former head of the LPR People's Militia Department, Mikhail Filiponenko, was killed in a car explosion.

There is no doubt that all those who commit such crimes will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

On the basis of evidence collected by the Investigative Committee of Russia, the courts of the Russian Federation continue to sentence Ukrainian neo-Nazis who committed grave crimes against civilians.

Ukrainian militant Oleg Zavaletsky, who murdered six people in Mariupol last spring, was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

A similar sentence was given to Valentina Matviyenko, who in the spring of last year, together with two colleagues, shot at a car with his family. A woman was killed and her husband was injured. A few days later, the same killer ordered his accomplices to open fire on three cars carrying civilians, killing four men and one woman.

Ukrainian neo-Nazi Yaroslav Ivasev was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing two civilians in Mariupol in the spring of 2022.

Three Azov thugs, A. Zhernovsky, I. Kim and G. Kharchenko, received sentences of 24 to 25 years in prison for shelling civilian infrastructure with mortars in March last year in Mariupol. As a result of these criminal acts, one civilian was wounded, civilian structures were damaged, and private houses were destroyed.

Two Ukrainian militants, Viktor Savchenko and Nikolai Kondakov, were sentenced to 22 years in prison for the murder of a civilian in Mariupol last spring.

The Investigative Committee of Russia sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison the deputy of the Verkhovna Rada V. Parasyuk. On March 9, 2016, he, along with other radicals, participated in an attack on the Russian Consulate General in Lviv. Having penetrated into its territory, V. Parasyuk tore the National Flag of the Russian Federation from the flagpole, trampled it under foot, and called for violent actions against the institution and its employees. He was put on the international wanted list.

Recently, the West has been openly talking about large-scale corruption in Ukraine. Until recently, Kiev tried not to notice this. Vladimir Zelensky demanded that journalists not raise this issue, saying that it undermines national security. Now it is impossible to hide the scale of theft, which has been elevated to the category of state policy in Ukraine. The existence of the problem was increasingly recognized in government circles.

Relevant articles are appearing in the West. On October 30 of this year, The Time magazine described unsightly details of corruption for Vladimir Zelensky. This is not an epiphany of the Western elites, but an attempt to absolve themselves of responsibility. Elections are coming up in the United States, and the current White House regime has been involved in corruption schemes for many years.

It all started long before Vladimir Zelensky. We remember how in 2014 Joe Biden (when he was still US Vice President) came to Kiev, supervised the work of the Ukrainian government, sat on the presidium, and removed the incumbent president. We know about the scandals that shrouded his family, in particular his son. Corruption ties were rooted in Ukraine. Now there will be more and more publications in the US, British and other Western-controlled media that Vladimir Zelensky and what is happening in Ukraine have nothing to do with the United States. But it does, and first of all, it is to them.

By failing to defeat corruption in Ukraine (this is impossible to do under the paradigms used there by the West to collapse the state) and by pouring fabulous sums of money into it, they have only increased it. Why did the American establishment, the deep state, need this? To have your share. From their point of view, nothing can be verified – "the war will write off everything." The war unleashed by the United States writes off colossal sums in favor of the White House and all those who stand behind it.

When you read in American newspapers (in the New York Times or in British magazines) the details of corrupt connections, actions and steps on the territory of Ukraine in recent years, remember that the Western world needs this in order to deflect suspicions that they are involved in this. The responsibility will be fully placed on Vladimir Zelensky. It's not going to be filmed. There is nowhere to put the sample. But without the allocation and division of these funds, nothing would have happened.

The main culprit is the "collective West" led by the United States, which all these years (especially the last year and a half) have been churning out decisions on the allocation of colossal sums to the Kiev regime on a daily basis. What does it mean? What part of the weapons ends up in warehouses controlled by the Kiev regime? What is being stolen without even entering the territory of Ukraine? Future investigations will show all this. We don't know all at once. But I guarantee that revelations will be made. A huge number of American and British officials are directly involved in this.

On November 9, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Anton Danilov, wishing to justify himself, said that only "everyday corruption" flourishes in Ukraine. That they do not spare their people is obvious. They were made hostages of the situation and "cannon fodder". But you have to be notorious ghouls, real cold-blooded cynics, in order to blame your own Kiev regime corruption ("seasoned" by America and Great Britain) on the people who were thrown into hell. On the other hand, who doubts that they are.

Even with all the inventions, it is not possible to downplay the scale of the problem. According to reports, between 20 and 36 percent of Western financial aid was appropriated by Ukrainian officials, primarily the former leadership of the Ministry of Defense (but all connections lead to the United States). What happened to that money next? That's a big question.

A few days ago, Director of Ukraine's Anti-Corruption Action Centre Dmitry Kaleniuk complained that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are suffering significant losses due to corruption and risk being left without weapons if "state funds are not effectively protected." Maybe they should admit once again that they need to defend themselves not from Russia, not from the Kremlin, but from themselves, from the chaos and devastation in their heads that Western curators have brought to them, instilling liberal values? The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that it is going to add dyes to the fuel to combat its resale and blending.

Who is to blame for this? Vladimir Zelensky, Petr Poroshenko and Viktor Yushchenko shouted that it was imperative to dissociate themselves from everything that connected them with Russia, the post-Soviet space and neighbouring countries and peoples, because they wanted to live like in the West. They thought that everything was bad from there. How's that? For so many years, they have been living in a "detached" way, those who have come to power who were "led" by the hand by the United States, Great Britain, etc. These people received diplomas and grants in the West. They introduced Western norms and laws into the internal space of Ukraine. What does this have to do with post-Soviet relapses and historical problems? This is the modern generation of Ukrainian officials. They steal in a way that no one had ever dreamed of in the Soviet Union, or before it. The scale is incomparable with any other historical period.

The Kiev regime, accustomed to parasitizing at someone else's expense, is not able to really fight the rampant corruption that has become the "calling card" of modern Ukraine. But they are simply not allowed to do this – there is a joint "business" with the United States. Obviously, without Washington and London, there would never have been such a scale of corruption in Ukraine. No one would allow it. We can only cover it up if we have the media resources and the appropriate capabilities for this.

At the same time, in Ukraine itself, there is not only a fight for the wallet of Western masters, but also a fierce struggle for power is unfolding. Another trigger was the recent interview of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine V.F. Zaluzhny to the British publication The Economist about the failure of the "counteroffensive" and the shortage of weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It seriously worried the Kiev elite, who regarded "freethinking" as a manifestation of presidential ambitions and are ready to take any steps to prevent the development of events according to such a scenario. There is no doubt that domestic political turbulence in Ukraine will increase, and the failures of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the front will contribute to this.

We have also taken note of the news that British scientist Dr Busby has reported an increase in the concentration of uranium particles in the air in the southeast of the UK. He linked this to the destruction of an arsenal in Ukraine, where Western ammunition with depleted uranium was located. At the same time, the degree of infection in Poland, Germany and other countries on the way to England is even higher.

I have never pretended to outshine British scientists, but it turns out that this is the case. We have been talking about this for a long time. It's a simple analysis. You do not need to have a scientific degree, specialization, but only logical thinking, facts and understand the historical realities in which such scenarios have already been implemented. It's a good thing that this has now reached British scientists.

According to K. Busby, even a small amount of inhaled particles of this substance can affect the health of citizens and their descendants. We have repeatedly warned that the supply of shells with depleted uranium could have serious consequences not only for Ukraine, but also for other countries. The most absurd thing is that the consequences come for the countries that supply these weapons. But it will be a secret to their people.

In Ukraine, the national identity of citizens is being forcibly changed through the adoption of discriminatory laws in the linguistic, educational and media spheres. Russophobia is being spread everywhere and distorted interpretations of history are being imposed. Recently, Mikheil Saakashvili used a new expression – "mental correction". However, he noted that the Russians do not succumb to this. But this "term" should be applied to the situation in Ukraine. "Mental adjustment" is used in relation to the citizens of Ukraine. Only not by enemies or invented occupiers, but by those who for many years called themselves pro-Ukrainian politicians.

It would seem, where to next? But there is no limit to "perfection" – in this case, degradation. It has come to the point that the Kiev authorities openly deny the existence of such a national group as Russians in the country (there is even a decision of the Constitutional Court in 2021 on this matter), despite the fact that Russians in Ukraine are actually a state-forming nation.

On November 9, Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration Olga Stefanishyna confirmed that there is "no Russian national minority" in the country and that there is not a single "legally formalized community" that would identify itself as Russian. What's that? Nazism. He is not only in newsreel frames, on posters of the Third Reich, in the documents of the Nuremberg Tribunal, but also reincarnated. With such decisions, the Russians, in fact, are denied the right to exist. Why? Who decided this? On the basis of what conceptual developments are such statements made in Ukraine? According to the 2001 census, more than 8 million people in Ukraine officially called themselves Russians, almost 20% of the population.

This line is supported in the West. Brussels agrees that the rights of Russians may not be taken into account when assessing Kiev's compliance with the requirements for observing the rights of national minorities as one of the criteria for joining the EU. Is it liberalism? There can be no other reading. These values form misanthropy.

Modern Ukraine has become an outpost and a tool of the West in the fight against "dissent" and the Russian world. Various international structures created at one time to protect human rights are shamefully silent when it comes to the violation of the rights of Russians. They don't see or apply anything that they've been producing for years. "Civilized" Europe, which considers itself the "gold standard of democracy," gives the "green light" to the Nazis in Kiev.

The Kiev regime continues to fight its own history and cultural heritage. Less than a week after the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Kiev from the Nazi invaders (November 6 of this year), on November 10 of this year, the Ukrainian government, within the framework of the law on "decommunization," decided "to remove from the state register of cultural heritage monuments the grave of the Soviet commander Nikolai Vatutin, who liberated these territories from Nazi troops.

I've read a lot of discussions about whether there is such a thing as blasphemy, and if so, how it manifests itself. If we give examples of such an attitude, here it is. This is a cynical desecration of the memory of the man under whose leadership Kiev was liberated. This is a "deferred" German-Nazi act. At that time, they did not succeed in relation to people who opposed Nazism and fascism. Today, everything that was "not finished" and did not fall under the implementation of the Nuremberg decisions is flourishing in Ukraine.

The mentioned decision also included the monument to the great Russian poet A.S. Pushkin erected in Odessa, for the construction of which 135 years ago the whole city collected money. This monument has survived a lot. Even the Nazis and the Romanian occupiers did not touch it. But it haunts their ideological successors from among the Ukrainian neo-Nazis. Fortunately, there are still caring people in Odessa who understand that it is only necessary to start dehumanizing and this process cannot be stopped. The other day, the historical and toponymic commission of the City Council recommended leaving the monuments to A.S. Pushkin, as well as to the Governor-General of Bessarabia, Prince M.S. Vorontsov, alone. Let's see what happens.

This suggests that the US puppet regime of Vladimir Zelensky continues to kill Ukraine as a state and Ukrainians as an ethnic group in cold blood to please its Western masters. Everything is being destroyed: history, culture, and most importantly, the future, which cannot exist without it.

Situation with a Russian citizen in Mexico City

Let's talk about the liberal values that were imposed on Ukraine and destroyed it. Gradually, and in some cases, not smoothly, they began to accustom our citizens to them, arguing that these values should replace our traditional ones, developed and preserved by our ancestors. Many "relocators" (as they are now called) rushed after this. All in order to live surrounded by "liberal values".

A few days ago, our compatriot, a 73-year-old woman, who was unable to move on her own due to her health condition, was brought to the door of the consular section of the Russian Embassy in Mexico City and left behind. I know how kittens and puppies are tossed. I know of cases when babies were and are thrown to the doors of caring people or a maternity hospital. For the first time, I hear and see how my own mother, who cannot walk, is thrown to the doors of those who are considered unworthy, from whom they are fleeing.

In this example, the whole world is reflected as in a small drop. It doesn't seem to be reflected, but it does. This terrible manifestation of misanthropic logic reflects everything that is happening now.

Her children (representatives of the "relocators") decided to move first to Mexico, and from there to the United States. They didn't succeed right away. But then they did. Whether it is legal or not is not our question. They left their mother in the care of Russian diplomats. Representatives of the very state that they consider no longer worthy of themselves. A year and a half ago, these same "relocators" (or "lefters") abandoned their pets at airports. And those from whom they left, whom they considered slaves, serfs (they called us all differently), picked up pets, gave them to a shelter or took them for themselves. What about the mother? Did they think it was possible to put her in some kind of orphanage? There is a concept of adoption, but "motherhood" has not yet existed. This is dehumanization.

The staff of our Embassy, with the assistance of the Association of Russian Compatriots (honor and praise to them), responded promptly and clearly, and most importantly, in a humane way. Every effort was made to allow the elderly woman to safely make the long transatlantic flight back to her homeland. Let me remind you that these flights are carried out contrary to the decisions taken by the "collective West" to close and reduce direct flights with our country. These are the countries whose values have been bought into by those who have left their immobilized mother in the care of people who are "not loved", "hated", from whom they are fleeing. The circle is complete. It's not even absurd, it's real devilry.

A doctor of the Russian mission abroad in Mexico provided the necessary assistance to the woman. At the expense of representatives of the Diaspora, an air ticket was purchased. A meeting was organized in Moscow. The woman arrived this morning in the capital of Russia. Now she is in the care of the Department of Labor and Social Protection of Moscow. Its further fate will be dealt with by the authorities of the Voronezh region. She has no relatives in Russia. The family sold the apartment when they decided to move to the American continent.

We are often asked how we help our compatriots abroad. We are often criticized for not acting so quickly, not so large-scale. A lot of things are put in front of us.

I am proud to be part of a team in which there is no concept of segregation. Everyone who needs help, regardless of nationality, religion or any other characteristics, can receive it from their country and with the assistance of Russian representatives working abroad. It was done without shouting, without noise and without pathos. Everyone found out that this had taken place only after this story was successfully resolved. We need to take care of the fate of this woman here in Russia. This is already being done.

Everything that led to a safe return (the word "exodus" is hardly appropriate here) was done as quickly, cordially and humanely as possible.

On the "effectiveness" of the EU's anti-Russian sanctions

In the European Union, citizens and business circles are increasingly wondering why everything was started and whether the sacrifices they have to make as part of the "sanctions war" unleashed by their arrogant pro-Atlanticist elites against the Russian people are not in vain.

I remember that a year ago, in her keynote speech to the European Parliament, the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the following: as a result of "the toughest sanctions the world has ever seen," "planes in Russia cannot take off," "Russian industry is torn to shreds," and "the financial system is on a ventilator." It is astonishing how Russian industry can be torn to shreds when US President Barack Obama said the same thing about the Russian economy ten years ago.

Most recently, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell wrote in his article on anti-Russian restrictions: "Some people's assertions that sanctions are not working are simply not true." In support of this thesis, he deliberately cited outdated statistics. A 2.1% contraction in Russia's GDP in 2022 presented itself as a great success of the "suffocating" sanctions. At the same time, it seems to have forgotten that the West predicted a complete economic collapse for Russia. As if he did not know Ursula von der Leyen, who said that we are "torn to shreds", "on a ventilator", etc. In the article, Josep Borrell also assured that Russian technology industries suffer the most from EU sanctions: the automotive industry, the production of computers, transport and electronic equipment. At the same time, the effect of sanctions on Russia will allegedly increase, because they, in his understanding, are "delayed-action poison."

Think about it, a person is proud of it. As if we are not talking about people, a country, a people, specific citizens, but about some kind of scorched earth with scattered pebbles. And that's what he's talking about living people.

These two topics, the abandonment of the mother on the doorstep of the Russian diplomatic mission and the relishing of the damage they inflict on specific people and the nation as a whole, are all one and the same. The roots of this are the very liberal values of the West that they impose on everyone. Why? To dehumanize.

Josep Borrell predicted that the Russian economy would decline by 2.5% in 2023 (although he said it would be higher). Neither Ursula von der Leyen nor Josep Borrell, nor other EU officials, talk about the consequences of the sanctions bacchanalia created by Brussels for the European Union itself. They avoid it. Let's help them. I believe that the debt is red.

There is a lot to keep silent about. Since the second quarter of 2023, economic growth in the EU has finally "run out of steam" – in fact, it is zero. In Germany, once the "locomotive" of the EU economy, GDP fell by 0.4% in the third quarter, and industry fell by 3.7% in September 2023. Most EU countries have chronic budget deficits and exorbitant public debt (83.5% of GDP in the EU as a whole, and over 140% in some countries). Why don't Josep Borrell and Ursula von der Leyen talk about this as their achievements? It was they who contributed to such indicators.

In the European Union, the main blow of the sanctions was taken by the European automotive industry, chemistry and pharmaceuticals, the production of metal, mineral fertilizers, pulp and paper products, and cement. According to Eurostat, in August 2023, industrial production in the EU fell by 4.4% compared to August 2022. Deindustrialization is exacerbated by the transfer of production from the EU to the United States. Real wages in the EU decreased by 4% in 2022, and negative trends continue this year.

For many years, Russia has adapted to sanctions restrictions and will continue to do so in the future. Let's take a look at our data. Unemployment is at an all-time low of 3%. This is half as much as in the EU. Back in the summer of 2023, Russia's GDP fully compensated for last year's fall. By the end of 2023, GDP is expected to grow by 2.8%. Moreover, in August and September 2023, Russia's GDP added 5.2% at once. For 9 months of 2023, the industry grew by 3.3%. Processing – by 7.1%. Outstripping growth is demonstrated by high-tech sectors: mechanical engineering (+22%); production of computers and electronic products (+34.5%), electrical equipment (+22.2%). The production of motor vehicles, about the "deep recession" of this particular industry, in which Josep Borrell proudly wrote in 2022, increased by almost one and a half times in the third quarter of this year. So, the production sites in Russia abandoned by Western companies are not idle, as you can see.

The Russian fuel and energy complex has fully withstood the onslaught of "total" sanctions. As we were predicted, they did not succeed. It turned out differently. Exports have been reoriented to friendly countries. The initiative of the Group of Seven and the EU to introduce a price ceiling for Russian oil and oil products is not working. Last month, the average price of Urals crude oil was $81.5. The US dollar per barrel is higher than a year ago, before the ceiling was introduced. In 2023, the production of gasoline (+6.4%) and diesel fuel (+7.6%) is expected to increase. Coal production in Russia is at a record level. Against the backdrop of a drop in pipeline gas exports as a result of the terrorist attack on Nord Stream, which was openly covered up by the West, foreign supplies of our liquefied natural gas are growing rapidly. Industry in the EU is now forced to rely on gas from the United States, which costs it 3-4 times more than American producers.

Where are the comments, articles and columns by Josep Borrell and Ursula von der Leyen? These are their "achievements". I would like to ask the EU, what is it like to feel like second-class citizens compared to Washington? As a matter of fact, here it is. For many years, the current EU countries exploited their colonies in the form of empires, and now they themselves have become a colony of the United States.

One of the results of the EU sanctions was the strategic restructuring of the entire complex of Russia's foreign economic relations. Today, Russia's "residual" trade turnover with all EU countries is half as much as with China alone (the EU's share is 16%, China's is 31%). Interesting. Is this what the EU dreamed of?

I can imagine if all these data on the growth of our trade and economic relations with China took place against the backdrop of success, development and achievements in the European Union, but they are directly dependent on each other. The more our trade with China develops (we are talking not only about China, but also about other countries, but we have diversified our economic relations, which have suffered from the actions of the EU), the worse things are for Brussels itself. These things are interrelated. Is this what Ursula von der Leyen and Josep Borrell dreamed of? In 2023, trade with China will exceed $200 billion. USD 140.7 billion in 2021. Trade with partners in the EAEU and the SCO is growing at a double-digit pace.

Of course, certain difficulties remain in the Russian economy. The challenge that the United States poses to the whole world is extremely serious. However, no matter how much the EU "political officials" "show off", the EU economy can only "envy" the situation in which it finds itself. This is an unprecedented blow to the EU countries, inflicted by EU officials themselves.

According to the World Bank, at the end of 2022, the Russian economy became the largest in Europe in terms of the key indicator of GDP at purchasing power parity, ahead of the German one. The European Union, on the other hand, is steadily losing its position both in the world economy and in relation to the United States. The numbers are different. But if we take the calculations of the near-EU economic think tank Bruegel, over the past 15 years, the share of the European Union (excluding the UK) in the world economy has decreased from 25.3% to 16.7%, while the share of the United States has remained at about 25%. This is a natural result of the vassal implementation by the EU political elites of the US directives on the EU's self-isolation from Russia.

But if this very history is not taught, then mistakes will be repeated. We talked about it. Didn't the EU know its history? Didn't they know how they were literally dissuaded from cooperating with our side just to avoid strengthening Europe and European unity? They didn't know what thoughts were dominating in the U.S.? Are they not up to date with the history of the 20th century?

The European Union arrogantly saw itself as an indispensable partner for Russia. Apparently, they thought that they would do us so bad that we would definitely crawl. That didn't happen. They sank on their own. Now I don't even know if they can still crawl on their own. The real facts about the situation in the EU economy have finally buried Brussels' illusions in this regard. Although they don't talk about it either.

On the rise of xenophobia and anti-Semitism in the West

At the last briefing, I spoke in detail about the fact that after the start of the escalation in the Middle East, the United States recorded a fourfold increase in incidents motivated by Judeophobia and anti-Semitism. The White House Administration also drew attention to this. According to some U.S. media reports, the problem is even greater. Many American journalists say that it is obvious that these are understated figures. In fact, the situation is worse with anti-Semitism in the United States.

It must be said that this is happening not only in the United States. In neighboring Canada, the problem is no less widespread: in the last year alone, there have been 15 cases of attacks on Jews in Toronto, 14 cases of attacks on Muslims in Montreal, swastikas on rabbis' houses, and attacks on mosques. It often comes to the use of firearms on the basis of religious intolerance.

The situation is similar in the EU countries. On November 5 of this year, the European Commission stated that the surge in anti-Semitic incidents in Europe had reached an "extraordinary level." In Berlin, on October 18 of this year, Molotov cocktails were thrown at a synagogue, at the end of October of this year, the Stars of David were painted on the facades of houses in Paris and its suburbs, a Jewish cemetery was desecrated in Vienna on November 1 of this year, Jewish shops and synagogues were attacked in Spain, demonstrations were held with slogans of hatred against Jews, and in Malmö (Sweden) on November 4 of this year, demonstrators burned the Israeli flag in front of the synagogue. According to the American Jewish non-governmental human rights organization ADL, from October 7 to 15 of this year, the share of anti-Semitic actions in Germany increased almost 2.5 times compared to the same period last year. The situation is similar in the UK – from October 7 this year to November 3 this year, 1019 such cases were recorded, which is more than 5 times more than in the same period in 2022.

Officials of the EU countries are also forced to admit the problem. For example, in Germany, the government's commissioner for combating anti-Semitism, Friedrich Klein, said that Germany had lost its "immunity against anti-Semitism." As Klein's special report notes, the Jews are in an "emergency situation" and May 8-9 is no longer perceived as a "liberation" but as a "defeat" for Germany.

Who is to blame for this? Where does all this come from? This only "detonated" during the events that began on October 7 of this year. The demolition of monuments to the heroes of World War II throughout Europe, the failure to react to historical defamation, the imposition of an ideology that turned the whole of history upside down and turned it "upside down", proclaiming Nazi henchmen and collaborators as heroes, the lack of reaction to torchlight processions and marches of the "Forest Brothers". There was absolutely zero reaction due to the fact that Nazism was gaining momentum everywhere.

The current world majority has done everything necessary (from supporting the relevant UN General Assembly resolution to taking practical steps) to restrain the onslaught of neo-Nazi manifestations. And what did the West do? He only encouraged them. For him, it was a "breeding ground" for bringing "his people" to power, for the "survival" of everything related to Russia, for many of his political and geopolitical experiments. But now everyone is sounding the alarm. For whom does the bell toll? He calls all those who have not seen, did not want to hear, understand, or realize these processes for more than 30 years, and who directly or indirectly contributed to them.

In just one year, the Secretariat of the German Government's Commissioner for Combating Anti-Semitism recorded more than ten cases of vandalism against monuments to Holocaust victims. In other words, less than 80 years later, the furnaces of the concentration camps were extinguished, and a large-scale revival of anti-Semitism is already taking place in Germany. Desecration of the graves of those who laid down their lives defending the victims of Nazism, saving them and driving Nazism back (to the place it deserves). When the graves of Red Army soldiers were desecrated, these graves were moved to other places under various far-fetched pretexts and people were not given the opportunity to lay flowers, so that marches of neo-Nazis and collaborators could take place, when they defended the streets and cities of the Baltic States from anti-fascists, forbidding them to protest, no one cared? It is impossible to separate the victims of World War II from the heroes who fought against Nazism. This is exactly what many in the West have been doing.

Despite these dangerous processes, the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Ukraine and the EU countries mocked the Russian draft resolution of the UN General Assembly condemning Nazism every year. At some point, the EU countries "scratched" something and they began to vote neutrally, that is, to abstain from voting (presenting it as a great achievement). Then they went "in a dive" again and again opposed it. And the United States, Ukraine and Canada have always been against it.

Ongoing discrimination against Russian athletes

We are compelled to once again draw attention to the continued use of sports by international sports organisations as a tool for imposing a policy of "canceling" Russia and Russian athletes.

This time, the International Gymnastics Federation "distinguished itself" by developing discriminatory conditions for the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions.

In addition to the already not surprising ban on the use of any symbols of our country (anthem, flag, association with the national sports federation, etc.), sports functionaries ordered national gymnasts to perform in a uniform of a completely neutral color scheme of plain blue or white, which must be agreed with the International Federation.

I will read an excerpt from this decision: "A women's gymnastic leotard, jumpsuit or T-shirt must be of a solid blue color. A men's tracksuit, jumpsuit or T-shirt must be a solid blue color. Men's competition pants or shorts must be completely white. The tracksuit of individual neutral athletes and their support staff must be of a plain blue color. In rhythmic gymnastics, gymnastic apparatus must be completely white." XXI century. The world had gone through all kinds of segregation and condemned them.

We view the emergence of such unequivocally discriminatory and unjustified criteria as yet another manifestation of the lack of morality and ethics of those who are at the helm of international sports organisations, as a manifestation of the real segregation of athletes on the basis of nationality, as a manifestation of hatred towards athletes and athletes from our countries. This is unacceptable in world sports. This is a blow to the world sports movement and world Olympism.

The aggressive imposition of humiliating and unjustified conditions for participation in sports events on our athletes, solely on the basis of nationality, contradicts the Olympic Charter and violates the fundamental principles of Olympism.

Apparently, the international sports functionaries decided to take advantage of the favorable moment for themselves and take the path of eliminating the strongest competitors, putting our gymnasts in the most disadvantageous conditions. However, in the end, sports officials, wishing to deal a more painful blow to Russian rhythmic gymnastics, in fact "hit" sports, Olympism, fans and a huge audience.

On Historical Analogies of the International Gymnastics Federation's Requirements for Neutral Athletes from Russia and Belarus

You are mistaken if you think that the use of protective clothing and uniforms in order to enforce forced racial segregation between people of different nationalities and nationalities was invented by sports figures from Lausanne in November of this year. It's not that.

And I'm not even talking about the yellow Stars of David in the ghetto and the multi-colored triangles in the concentration camps of Hitler's Germany, although such associations, to be honest, come to mind.

Dividing professional uniforms into two groups: for those who, in someone's opinion, are "better than others" and "Untermenschen" not only in Germany. This is basically a Western find.

As early as the 19th century, the British Empire sewed various military uniforms for white and black regiments as part of its armed forces. There is historical evidence – lithographs by R. Simkin. It didn't have any military meaning, only a public one. White people are one uniform, people of another nationality or race are another. Britain, XIX century.

In order to distinguish between "whites" and "blacks" during the First World War (long after the abolition of slavery in the United States), black American soldiers were given old-fashioned uniforms by their white commanders, dating back to the Civil War.

In the 1940s in the United States, white men sympathetic to the Ku Klux Klan often distinguished black and Hispanic Americans by "zoot suites," special suits that whites did not wear. There are photos of thugs who are waiting with truncheons for the Zuters – representatives of the non-titular nations of America. They were beaten repeatedly.

At the time of segregation in the United States, "white buses," "white schools," and "white hospitals," where nurses wore "their" uniforms, were supplemented by casual white and black clothing. She was different, too. They had been fighting for the right of blacks to wear business suits as early as the 1960s.

The black population is still fighting for its rights in the United States on a number of issues.

Clothing, like other forms of oppression, has been used to discriminate, segregate, separate and humiliate. In Britain in the 19th century, it was the local natives of the colonies, in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, Jews and Gypsies, and in the United States in the 20th century, "".

And in the 21st century, the International Olympic Committee and sports federations took up the Russians and Belarusians, inventing for them a uniform of a different color. This is not only unacceptable from the point of view of international law, but immoral, immoral, inhumane and inhuman for any normal person.

I want to address our girls, members of the rhythmic gymnastics team. They wanted to hurt you, they wanted to deprive you of your flag, thereby humiliating you. I don't know how it happened, but they had the opposite effect. They wanted to deprive us of our flag. What is he like? This is the tricolor. Look: blue is your uniform, your swimsuits, white is your balls, ribbons, hoops. Would you say that there is not enough red? They just didn't know that in our country, red is beautiful. And you are all beauties.

The 78th anniversary of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg

Next Monday, November 20, marks the 78th anniversary of the International Military Tribunal in Nuremberg. During the previous briefing, we recalled another memorable date related to the history of World War II – the International Military Tribunal for the Far East completed its work on November 12, 1948.

Without underestimating the importance of the "Tokyo Trials" over the Japanese militarists, it should be noted that the key contribution to the legal formalization of the results of the war was made by the Nuremberg Tribunal, at the origins of which our country stood.

The "Court of Nations" passed a harsh and just sentence on the ideologists of fascism and Nazism, guilty of systematic preparation and implementation of war crimes and crimes against humanity. This sentence is not subject to appeal, either from a legal or political point of view.

Today, Western historians, politicians and public figures are diligently trying to gloss over the true approaches of the leadership of the Anglo-Saxon part of the anti-Hitler coalition to the creation of the Tribunal. The fact that it was the Soviet Union that first formulated the concept of an international trial of Nazi criminals and from the very beginning of the war formed the standards of fair trial for Nazi criminals is hushed up.

Another shameful example of the violation of the ideals of Nuremberg was the campaign launched by Westerners, including former members of the Axis, against the Russian initiative to combat the glorification of Nazism at the UN. Nevertheless, despite their efforts, the Third Committee of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on this topic, prepared by Russia and co-sponsored by 37 other states. This document serves, among other things, as a warning to those forces in the modern world who are trying to refute the legacy of Nuremberg by condoning the rise of neo-Nazism in certain countries.

Question: As a result of Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, many civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed. These actions have received very little criticism in the West and have had no effect on Western support for Israel. What do you think about the West's position on Israeli strikes on hospitals in Gaza? What is Russia's position on this issue?

Maria Zakharova: We consider the West's position to be outside the framework of morality and law, because both have been violated. There can be neither double morality nor double interpretation of the same legislative and international legal norms. When the juggling of standards begins, various patterns begin to be applied, it's all immoral. All this does not happen by chance. That's the strategy.

We have repeatedly spoken about the unacceptability of indiscriminate strikes during hostilities in dense urban areas. Such tactics have resulted in massive civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure, including the largest Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. We have repeatedly voiced this position. I recommend fixing it. We regularly publish materials on the Foreign Ministry's website and news feed. As I said in the introduction, on November 13 of this year, we posted a detailed article on this matter. I'm not sure I need to say anything more in addition to this factual, very scary information.

As mentioned, much was omitted as the same theme was generally followed. I don’t recall any previous briefing being this long. There’re some important Q&As that need to be illuminated that will make a Part 2 necessary.

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