Donbas
Sunday 20 May 2018
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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. -
Vladimir Putin
President of Russian Federation
The U.S. used Russia to prevent Ukrainian leader Viktor Yanukovich from using his military against rioters in Kiev, and then ‘cheated’ Moscow by supporting an armed coup, President Vladimir Putin said.
Read more...The Maidan Revolution of 2014 was not a coup, nor was it armed, nor led by "far-right nationalists." -
Ramzan Kadyrov
Head of Chechnya
“There is a new social network being tested in Chechnya @ Mylistory, which is as good as the foreign ones”
Read more...Although designed as a clone of Instagram, Mylistory, unlike the original app, is controlled by the Chechen government and used as a propaganda tool -- and, possibly, a surveillance tool. -
Vladimir Putin
President of the Russian Federation
“There is no Russian army on the territory of Donbas but there have been created military-police formations, ready to repulse an offensive against Donbas.”
Read more...President Putin’s responses at his annual news conference repeat his claim that Russia is not involved in the Ukraine conflict, that Crimeans freely chose annexation. He turned his view of interference in the U.S. election to disputes over Russian state media – RT and Sputnik. Polygraph has fact checked many similar comments by the president. -
Leonid Ivashov
a former top Russian defense ministry official
“It indicates that they, the Americans in the first place, are preparing to start a war in Europe, and you can wage a war in Europe against Russia only.”
Read more...NATO’s recent deployments in Eastern Europe are minuscule compared to Russia’s capabilities on its western flank and would be insufficient for a successful attack on -- or a war with -- Russia. Rather, the U.S. and NATO are enhancing the deterrence posture and collective defense of NATO members. -
Bryan MacDonald
Russia-based journalist
“[A] U.S. State Department claim that Russia’s military strength eclipses that of European Union states is especially ludicrous... [I]t [Russia] is not stronger than the European Union, by any measure, and the State Department’s [Brian] Hook [senior policy advisor to the U.S. Secretary of State] is spreading clear disinformation. All to serve an agenda that has nothing to do with Europe’s security.”
Read more...The EU does not have a military, and the U.S. and NATO have some military disadvantages in Europe, while Russia’s rapid military modernization and actions in Georgia, Crimea, and eastern Ukraine make it a conventional military threat to the region. -
@cinicarea
Russian satirical profile
“This brave old man was a messenger in a unit of fighters for the freedom of Novorossiya. Neighbors and friends in Luhansk knew him as Mikhalych, his fellow militiamen knew him by his nom de guerre Charlie. Today he fell into the clutches of the Banderovtsy. Before the execution these filthy men draw a swastika on his forehead. We will not forget, we will not forgive!”
Read more...Despite the satirical nature of the tweet passing off a photo of the notorious American criminal as a Russian militiaman in Ukraine, the post was retweeted by top Russian politician and even made headlines in the Russian press. -
Defense Ministry
Russian Federation
“#RusMoD shows irrefutable evidence that US are actually covering ISIS combat units to recover their combat capabilities, redeploy, and use them to promote the American interests in the Middle East.
Read more...The original social media post contained an image from the video game AC-130 Gunship Simulator. Other photos came from airstrikes in Iraq from last year. -
Komsomolskaya Pravda
Russian newspaper
“PACE flipped off Ukraine and initiated the lifting of sanctions against Russia”
Read more...Russian media portrayed the resolution adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the European Council (PACE) on October 12 as the “lifting of sanctions.” While the sanctions they were referring to are the sweeping political and economic restrictions that nearly 50 nations have imposed on Russia for its actions in Ukraine, the resolution simply lays the groundwork for restoring Russia’s status within PACE, and does not affect any other sanctions. -
Margarita Simonyan
RT Editor-in-Chief
"To date, we have not experienced such active pressure and literally an expulsion from the country, as we do in the United States."
Read more...FARA registration does not ban, limit or censor media content; it merely requires transparency and public disclosure. It is false to assert that RT is facing exceptional pressure in the U.S., since multiple nations have probed RT for breaking journalistic codes and standards, and some have even banned it. -
Frants Klintsevich
First deputy chairman of the defense and security committee of the Russian Federation Council
“The U.S. has a direct interest in destabilizing the situation in Central Asia, including by using IS… The Americans believe that this will allow them to unravel the situation in Russia.”
Read more...The U.S. is fighting against Islamic State, not using it. Washington is also cooperating with Central Asian states to enhance security for the region -- including Russia -- despite Moscow’s objection to such security cooperation and its destabilizing military actions along its own periphery. -
Yuri Podoliaka
Contributor to Voyennoye Obozreniye
“Today, Washington is losing allies even faster than the USSR did during its period of decline. Old and experienced [U.S.] partners are turning in the direction of Russia and China, and many are simply waiting for the right moment to escape the sinking ship of American ‘democracy’."
Read more...The U.S. continues to retain and support its allies while enjoying their backing and cultivating new partners, including those that have or are turning away from Russia.