Politics
Wednesday 25 April 2018
-
Irina Rodnina
Russian lawmaker and former Olympic figure skating champion
“I’m just saying they [Americans] wouldn’t report to us. Look at the amount of abuse those children were subjected to. I am not saying that it happened everywhere. But there were a lot of cases like that. We weren’t notified about them because the child would lose their citizenship.”
Read more...Russian lawmaker Irina Rodnina’s statement justifying the Russian ban on U.S. adoptions overstates instances of abuse of adoptees in the U.S., ignores Russia’s own lack of accountability in inter-country adoptions and misstates laws in Russia and the U.S. governing citizenship. -
Leonid Slutsky
Chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Foreign Affairs Committee
“I have no doubt that in terms of cooperation with Moscow, as well as within the framework of the Eurasian Economic Union, full continuity will be maintained. Russia for many years has been Armenia’s strategic ally, and there are no factors for any changes.”
Read more...Thousands of Armenians protested against ex-President Sargsyan’s appointment as the Prime Minister. Hundreds were arrested in rallies over 11 days. 63-year old Sargsyan, yielding to the pressure, resigned on Monday. Chairman of Russia’s Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Slutksy commented, “Russia for many years has been Armenia’s strategic ally, and there will be no changes.” Armenia depends on Russia militarily, politically and economically; thus, current political turmoil in Yerevan will not affect cooperation with Moscow -
Ekaterinburg Investigative Committee, Russia
“There are no grounds for initiating a criminal case. Several versions are under consideration, including an accident; there are no signs that a crime was committed."
Read more...Before allegedly falling from his fifth floor balcony or window to his death, the 32-year-old journalist had been physically attacked several times and, according to friends and colleagues, he suspected he was under surveillance. The Committee to Protect Journalists and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe have called for an independent investigation. -
Russian State Duma
A counter sanctions law: “Cessation or suspension of international collaboration between the United States and (or) other foreign nations in the rocket-propelled industry.”
Read more...While the Russian Duma threatens to cut off rocket engine sales to the U.S., it is clear the move would harm the Russian company producing the engine, and the Russian government signals it expects sales to continue into the next decade. -
Sergey Lavrov
Foreign Minister, Russia
“Because during the Cold War there were channels of communication. And there was no obsession with Russophobia, which resembles genocide through sanctions."
Read more...The United Nations defines genocide as the deliberate destruction of a specific group, and lists five types of actions toward a specific group that qualify as genocidal. None of these apply to the financial and travel restrictions the United States imposed on Russian government officials and tycoons. -
Sergei Ryabkov
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister
"Everything rested on the absence of UN Secretariat security department approval for a visit by OPCW experts to the site of the events in Douma.”
Read more...The United Nations Secretariat has granted authorization for the OPCW's mission to inspect the site of the alleged chemical attack in Douma. -
RIA NOVOSTI (Rossiya Segodnya)
Russian state-funded news agency
HEADLINE: “In Ukraine, they admitted the Ukrainian army can’t learn how to use American weapons”
Read more...While the guest cited in the article talked about how difficult it would be for the Ukrainian army to implement NATO standards, he did not say that Ukrainian soldiers could not learn to use American weapons. He only pointed out that there was a lack of trained personnel to take advantage of some of the weapons provided. -
Dmitry Peskov
Vladimir Putin's press secretary
"The Kremlin backs an objective investigation into this situation to provide trustworthy data, and so that we don’t rely on rumors and fake media reports. We believe that this information on such awful consequences of using chemical weapons in [Syria’s] Douma is not based on real data.”
Read more...Vladimir Putin's press secretary claim that the Kremlin backs an "objective investigation" into the use of chemical weapons in Syria is false. The Russian ambassador to the United Nations has systematically blocked resolutions calling for joint international investigations of chemical weapons use in Syria. -
Russia’s Embassy in the United States
“With that we are told that these measures are not directed at the Russian people. Quite on the contrary! Thousands of workers are now in the crosshairs of this ‘penalty list’. … In these sanctions we see (the) intent to split Russian society apart.”
Read more...The Russian Embassy claim is misleading. A fact-check reveals that although average Russians suffer from the consequences of the country’s economic decline, the United States has not intentionally targeted them. Furthermore, the Russian government has deliberately shifted the burden of the sanctions from the tycoons onto the most vulnerable segments of society. -
Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Official statement
"Information dumps about the use of chlorine or other poisonous substances by government troops are continuing. Another such fabricated story about an alleged chemical attack on Douma appeared yesterday."
Read more...Contrary to the Russian Foreign Ministry's claim, there does appear to be credible evidence that a chemical attack took place in Douma on April 7. -
RT
Russian state-funded news channel
"If you’re a Russian immigrant in the United States — or anywhere else — don’t bother tweeting your opinions unless your English is flawless. Otherwise you’ll be branded a Kremlin-paid troll by influential American think tanks."
Read more...Grammar mistakes common to Russian-speakers are only a small part of Nimmo’s article, which gives readers a list of several factors to look at when trying to determine whether an account is fake. RT’s writer either did not read the full article or deliberately misrepresented its content. -
Vladimir Putin
President, Russia
“As many already said, certainly, this was the most transparent and clean election in the history of our country.”
Read more...There have been only six presidential elections in the history of Russia, and only three elected presidents. In the two out of six elections, the winners were the incumbent’s hand-chosen successors and in four, Vladimir Putin was the winner.