🎙 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova during her weekly press briefing (October 23, 2025)

💬 Maria Zakharova: The historic date of October 25 is approaching – the day when, in 1944, the Red Army liberated the northeastern part of Norway from the Nazi invaders. Those were gruesome battles fought under the harshest conditions. They stand as a timeless example of the valor and resilience of Soviet soldiers, whose heroism will forever remain in history. During the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation to liberate the Arctic, the Red Army lost 6,084 warriors.

The shared chapter of Russian and Norwegian history linked to the Second World War concerns not only the events of 1944 in the North, but also the fate of tens of thousands of Soviet POWs. They were held in Nazi concentration camps on Norwegian territory. Ordinary Norwegians helped them survive.

I had the opportunity, as part of a Russian delegation headed by Minister Lavrov, to see the conditions in which Soviet POWs were kept. It was a solemn ceremony, a commemorative event held right at the entrance to one of the “stollens” – excavation tunnels where Soviet POWs worked under the barrels of German machine guns. We did not go inside – the tunnel is under eternal permafrost.

We stood nearby, on a platform that was heated by special devices. The ceremony lasted about an hour and a half. I’ll be honest – we, as members of the delegation accompanying the Minister, had to run back to the cars and buses to warm up probably every 15 minutes. The cold literally seeped into our bones – it was impossible to move our hands or feet.

❗️ One thought has never left me since. We – well-fed, healthy people in comfortable conditions – could not stand even 15 minutes there, dressed in fur coats and down jackets. How did the POWs survive there without food, without medicine, without clothing, without even the most basic sustenance – in that bitter Arctic cold? It’s a mystery.

How the Norwegians have managed to forget all of this – how the leadership of Norway has turned away from those pages of history – remains, to me, an equally great mystery. How could they forget not only ours, but also their own – the resistance fighters? How could they forget the more than 12,000, almost 13,000 Soviet POWs who perished and remain forever in Norwegian soil?

👉 Why have they forgotten? Because now they support those who glorify Nazi criminals – support them politically, informationally, materially – including with weapons. Norway was among the first.

Perhaps they should visit those very tunnels more often – the ones where Soviet POWs were held. Perhaps they should stay there not for 10 or 15 minutes, but for an hour and a half or two – so that the cold, which pierces to the bone, doesn’t let go for at least a couple of days – so that memory returns. They say the mind works better in the cold. I don’t know whether that applies to the current Norwegian authorities.

The attempts to deliberately distort this shared historical past of our two countries for the sake of political expediency – which have been increasingly visible in Norwegian official rhetoric and in certain actions of individual government representatives – are unacceptable and shameful. We can only regard them as rewriting and falsifying history, as erasing the memory of future generations.

🤝 We express gratitude to all those in Russia and Norway who are committed to preserving historical truth and memory – to restoring the names of those who perished and lie in nameless graves in Norwegian soil, and to finding their relatives. This work will continue, no matter what.

Every year, on October 25, in honor of the liberation of Eastern Finnmark, a solemn ceremony is held at the monument to the Soviet soldier in Kirkenes by the Russian Consulate General.

We welcome everyone who wishes to join Russian diplomats in paying tribute to the heroes.

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🇺🇳 On 24 October, a solemn ceremony was held at the Reception House of the Russian Foreign Ministry to commemorate the release of a special postal envelope “80 Years of the United Nations”, dedicated to the anniversary of the Organisation.

The event was attended by Deputy Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Vershinin, Deputy Director General of the Russian Post, Alexander Kozonov, and First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Association for the United Nations, Vice President of the World Federation of United Nations Associations, Alexander Borisov.

#UnitedNations80

💬 Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin:

This year, much has been said about the the UN. Over these months, numerous materials have been published and many events held to mark the anniversary. All of this underlines the significance and universal nature of the platform created 80 years ago.

Today, the UN is not only about finding political solutions to conflicts, but also about its vast humanitarian work – helping refugees, supporting the starving, combating climate change, and protecting human rights.

We always emphasize: the UN emerged from the outcomes of the Second World War – a most severe trial for our country, which we endured with honour and Victory. Millions of Soviet people, together with the peoples of other nations, gave their lives for this Victory, which became the foundation for establishing the global Organization.

Eighty years have passed, and today there are many assessments and proposals. The UN may be criticised, but it is impossible to deny that it remains indispensable and plays a special, stabilising role in world affairs. The key question is how to make the UN’s work more effective, sustainable, and responsive to the interests of all member states of the international community.

#OurRulesUNCharter: For Russia, it is of fundamental importance to ensure the implementation of the basic principles enshrined 80 years ago in the UN Charter – sovereign equality of states, non-interference in domestic affairs, and respect for human rights. These principles, along with the Charter itself, form the foundation of modern international law, and Russia will continue to consistently defend them.

ℹ️ The print run of the “80 Years of the UN” commemorative postal envelope is 500,000 copies. It has already been distributed to post offices and collectors’ shops across Russia.

#UnitedNations80 #FirstCommittee

🎙 Statement by the Deputy Head of the Russian Delegation, Deputy Director of the Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Konstantin Vorontsov at the Thematic Debate on Cluster IV "Conventional weapons" in the First Committee of the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly (New York, October 24, 2025)

💬 The Russian Federation reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (#CCW) and consistently calls for its further strengthening through the universalization of the Convention and Protocols thereto, as well as good-faith implementation of their provisions. CCW regime has proven in practice its real ability to respond to humanitarian threats, as well as its high adaptability to changing conditions of warfare. <...>

In the context of compliance with the CCW, the criminal acts of the Kiev regime require condemnation and response by the international community. Units of the Ukrainian armed forces are mining territories of the Russian Federation to cause significant damage to civilian infrastructure and the civilian population. To this end, Kiev deliberately uses inhumane types of weapons (mines, booby traps, improvised explosive devices).

The most egregious example is the use against civilians of anti-personnel mines PFM-1C "Lepestok", which Ukrainian servicemen are actively scattering in towns and villages. Since the start of the special military operation, more than 180 cases of civilians being blown up by this type of mines have been recorded in the Donetsk People's Republic alone.

We also note the widespread use of foreign-made mines against the civilian population. In particular, these include M42/46 and M77 "Kolokolchik" mines, which do not have a self-destruction mechanism; M67/72 anti-personnel mines, some of which are equipped with a non-removable mechanism; DM 1399 and AT-2 anti-tank mines; the M18A1 (Claymore) and Halstorm Mini anti-personnel directional fragmentation mines. It is also known about the use of booby traps by Ukraine that are practically indistinguishable from civilian products, as well as about the systematic mining of bodies of dead servicemen and civilians by the AFU.

❗️ All of the above-mentioned represents a direct violation of the fundamental provisions of international humanitarian law, including the Amended Protocol II to the CCW and the Additional Protocol I of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949.

The use of anti-personnel mines by the AFU in general also constitutes a violation of the provisions of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (#APMBC), from which Ukraine announced its withdrawal on June 29, 2025.

We note that, in accordance with the APMBC, for a State Party involved in an armed conflict, the withdrawal from the Convention shall take effect only after the end of the said armed conflict. This provision is fully applicable to the withdrawal process launched by Ukraine. Thus, even after announcing its withdrawal from the APMBC, Kiev will be required to fulfill its obligations under the Convention until the Ukrainian crisis is resolved.

Full statement

🎙 Statement by Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the continuing attempts by Kiev and the West to manipulate the “abducted children” issue (October 24, 2025)

💬 The Kiev regime and its Western sponsors continue to promote an anti-Russian smear campaign centred on the so-called “children’s issue”.

To advance anti-Russian narratives, various contrived formats – “coalitions”, “platforms”, “groups” – are being created. Their aim is to impose on the international community a distorted image of Russia as a “criminal”, “terrorist”, and “child abductor”.

Now, American senators have decided to join this effort. Media reports suggest that the US Senate is preparing to consider a number of anti-Russian legislative initiatives, including a bill to designate Russia as a “state sponsor of terrorism” allegedly over the “abduction of Ukrainian children”.

We regard this legislative initiative as an attempt to undermine the dialogue established between Russia and the US – including on the issue of reuniting children who, for various reasons, lost contact with their families during the conflict in Ukraine.

Let us recall that the Office of the Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, has established a clear and transparent family reunification process with a consistent step-by-step procedure.

To date, 122 children from 98 families have been reunited with their parents or biological relatives residing in Ukraine or third countries. From Ukraine, 29 children from 21 families have returned to Russia. The facts of family reunifications are verified by representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross, who accompany the children during their transfer to parents or relatives. Qatar and the Vatican provide mediation assistance.

Recently, the process has also been joined by US First Lady Melania Trump, who confirmed that Russia demonstrates readiness to provide objective and detailed information regarding the children.

🤝 Thanks to cooperation between the Russian and American Sides, seven minors were reunited with their families in Ukraine on October 11, and one girl returned from Ukraine to her relatives in Russia.

We proceed from the understanding that the established direct contact with the American Side will help not only to facilitate family reunification, but also to convey to the international community accurate information about the real state of affairs.

As for the fabricated stories about “20,000 abducted Ukrainian minors”, as well as the various so-called “coalitions for the return of children,” and hostile anti-Russian bills and resolutions – they have nothing to do with truth or genuine concern for children’s interests.

❗️ What we see here is more Bucha-style fakes – heart-wrenching 'emotional' stories and loud headlines in Western media, that have no truth behind them – neither the names of those allegedly killed in Bucha nor any list of “abducted children” will ever be produced.

🎙 Russia's President Vladimir Putin visited a Joint Force command post, where he had a meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov and the commanders of the groups involved in the special military operation (October 26, 2025)

Key points:

• The recent successes in encircling the Krasnoarmeysk and Dimitrov agglomeration and Kupyansk, as well as combat outcomes in other directions, achieved by our Armed Forces, are the result of the heroic actions of our soldiers, sergeants, and junior rank officers, as well as the well-coordinated work of our headquarters and leadership at all levels.

• At the same time, as already noted, extensive and challenging efforts have to be made in order to eliminate the encircled enemy formations.

❗️ In order to minimise avoidable human losses, I ask (just as we have done before) that you take all possible comprehensive measures to secure the surrender of Ukrainian service personnel – those who wish to lay down arms.

• During the mop-up of these territories, every effort must be made to protect the civilian population, which Ukrainian units are using as human shields. Local residents must receive all necessary assistance, and measures must be taken to evacuate them to safe locations.

• That said, the lives of our military personnel remain the priority. We discuss this on a constant basis; you know my approach and I know yours: we will not tie operations to specific dates or events. As always, we will proceed from military expediency and place the safety of our fighters, our soldiers, first and foremost.

• Regarding the exercise of the strategic offensive forces, we have once again confirmed the reliability of Russia’s nuclear shield. The strategic forces are fully capable of ensuring the national security of the Russian Federation and the Union State.

⚡️ I would ask the Chief of the General Staff to report on one more event that I briefly mentioned in my opening remarks – namely, the test of the #Burevestnik nuclear-powered unlimited-range cruise missile. I have received a report from the industry and I am aware of the assessments made by the Ministry of Defence – this is indeed a unique weapon that no other country possesses.

👉 Substantial work has to be done in order to place this weapon on combat duty, and all regulations must be completed. Nevertheless, as I understand it, the key objectives have been achieved.

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‼️🇷🇺 Комментарий Посольства России в Норвегии в связи с осквернением памяти солдат Красной Армии в северной Норвегии

Крайне обеспокоены фактом осквернения в ночь с 25-го на 26-е октября памятника Советскому солдату в Киркенесе неустановленными лицами, которые разбросали цветы и растоптали венки, возложенные накануне представителями российских и норвежских властей, соотечественниками и простыми норвежцами по случаю 81-й годовщины освобождения Красной Армией восточного Финмарка в октябре 1944 г.

С учетом того, что монумент был воздвигнут в память о воинах, отдавших свои жизни за освобождение северной Норвегии от нацистской Германии, возникает риторический вопрос — носителям каких взглядов претит этот памятник бессмертному подвигу Советского народа в борьбе с человеконенавистнической идеологией? Кто мог пойти на этот постыдный и кощунственный шаг?

Печально, что среди местных «историков» и политиков есть те, кто очерняет совместные усилия российских и норвежских властей, а также неравнодушных граждан, призывая отказаться от возложений цветов к могилам и памятникам советских воинов, и по сути, оправдывая и даже поощряя действия, подобные акту вандализма в Киркенесе.

Раcсчитываем на проведение норвежской полицией беспристрастного расследования и установления виновных, а от норвежских властей - получить соответствующую оценку произошедшего.

‼️🇷🇺 Kommentar fra Russlands ambassade i Norge om vanhelligelsen av minnet om soldater fra Den røde armé i Nord-Norge

Vi er svært bekymret over skjemmingen av monumentet til sovjetiske soldater i Kirkenes natten mellom 25. og 26. oktober av ukjente personer som kastet blomster og tråkket på kranser som dagen før var lagt ned av representanter for russiske og norske myndigheter, av landsmenn og vanlige nordmenn i anledning 81-årsdagen for Røde Armés frigjøring av Øst-Finnmark i oktober 1944.

Gitt at monumentet ble reist til minne om soldatene som ga livet sitt for frigjøringen av Nord-Norge fra Nazi-Tyskland, reiser det seg et retorisk spørsmål: Hva slags mennesker ville forakte dette monumentet over det sovjetiske folks udødelige heltedåd i kampen mot en menneskefiendtlig ideologi? Hvem kunne ha tatt dette skammelige og blasfemiske skrittet?

Det er trist at det blant lokale «historikere» og politikere finnes de som svartmaler felles innsats til de russiske og norske myndighetene, samt engasjerte borgere, ved å oppfordre til boikott av blomsternedlegging ved gravene og monumentene til sovjetiske soldater, og i hovedsak rettferdiggjør og til og med oppmuntrer til handlinger som dette hærverket i Kirkenes.

Vi regner med at norsk politi vil gjennomføre en upartisk etterforskning og identifisere de ansvarlige, og at norske myndigheter vil gi en passende vurdering av det som har skjedd.

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the high-level Plenary Session of the 3rd Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security (Minsk, October 28, 2025)

Key points:

• President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko is holding this conference for a third year now (1, 2). It has established itself as a leading international platform for discussing key security-related topics for the Eurasian space.

• It is now obvious to everyone that Eurasia is at the geopolitical centre of a nascent multipolar world order today. It is here that processes shaping the future of international relations are unfolding.

• We can see that an overwhelming majority of NATO and EU countries are refusing to recognise an objective truth – the era of Western dominance has come to an end and we entered a new historical era. This is what sets apart Russia, our partners within the CIS, China, India, Iran and the DPRK, as well as all those Eurasian countries which are convinced in the need to ensure unwavering compliance with the principles of sovereign equality and indivisible security for all, not just the chosen ones who believe that they stand above the law and are not bound by any moral imperatives.

• NATO has not halted its expansion effort, even for a moment, despite the assurances provided back in the day to the Soviet leaders not to move east even by an inch. They are doing this despite the commitment they have assumed at the highest political level within the OSCE to refrain from reinforcing their own security at the expense of others and not to seek regional, let alone, global dominance.

• They planned and provoked the conflict in Ukraine, which dealt a final blow to the Euro-Atlantic Security model, which used to rely on NATO, the OSCE and the European Union. Over the past eight years, the EU evolved into a Euro-Atlantic component of this setting.

• The militarisation of Europe is gaining traction with more funding for defence manufacturers, large-scale exercises, and efforts to perfect logistics for moving troops to the so-called eastern front by using the infrastructure of countries which are not part of the North-Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

• The plans to intensify NATO activity in the Arctic, which we (and I am convinced the majority of sensible nations) would like to see as a territory of peace and cooperation, give significant cause for concern.

• It is the European members of NATO that are prolonging the armed conflict in Ukraine by funnelling weapons into the Kiev regime and providing it with financial and political support. Most European leaders are at pains to persuade the US administration against the idea of reaching a settlement in Ukraine by eliminating the root causes of the conflict at the negotiating table.

• Europe has been groundlessly accusing Russia of planning an invasion of NATO and EU countries. European leaders invented this nonsense and repeated it in a conscious deceit of their own nations.

• By inflating the anti-Russia hysteria on the principle of “war will justify everything,” as we say in Russia, they are trying to blame Moscow for their own mistakes, including the numerous mistakes and failures with regard to Ukraine.

• We have stated repeatedly that we have never had and have no intention to attack any member of NATO or the European Union.

• NATO is artificially expanding its area of responsibility far beyond the Euro-Atlantic region. To this end, the alliance has advanced the notion of the “indivisibility” of its security and that of the Indo-Pacific Region.

• NATO does not leave other Eurasian regions without its attention, including the Middle East, the South Caucasus, and Central and South Asia. These sub-regions are dealt with on an individual basis rather than in the context of concerns about pan-continental or pan-Eurasian interests.

• Back in 2015, Vladimir Putin, speaking at the Russia-ASEAN Summit, suggested establishing a Greater Eurasian Partnership that envisaged the creation of a continent-wide contour of equitable and mutually beneficial cooperation.

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