Постоянное Представительство России при ОБСE / Russian Mission to the OSCE

08/09/2026

🎙 Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question regarding the new EU human rights report (September 7, 2026)

❓ Question: In August, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy released its annual report on human rights and democracy around the world for 2025. What is your assessment of this document?

💬 Maria Zakharova: Yes, we have seen it. And frankly, it is a perfect compilation of all the EU’s favourite clichés and slogans: the usual self-promotion of their supposed role as a “global champion of human rights,” a laundry list of politicised accusations against third countries, alongside intrusive and patronising lecturing.

What’s more, the level of criticism isn’t calibrated to the facts on the ground but is determined solely by how pliant each state is towards Brussels.

A case in point: the section on Ukraine, which is utterly toothless and, in places, almost fawning – this for a country mired in corruption, lawlessness, and neo-Nazi ideology.

It is telling that Brussels no longer even bothers to hide its use of the human rights agenda as a cover for blatant interference in the internal affairs of states that pursue independent policies. They openly admit to funnelling significant funds into “civil society,” media, journalists, and activists in targeted countries with the explicit aim of shaping domestic politics and steering foreign policy choices.

One passage in particular stands out: how the EU frames its own policy towards Russia. In the country-specific section, they unabashedly call it a “wartime approach” – as if that somehow justifies their glaring lies about our country, their double standards, and their willingness to sweep under the rug the EU’s own violations of our citizens’ rights.

❗️ In essence, Brussels is openly declaring that it intends to weaponise human rights as leverage against Russia.

Throughout the report, Brussels once again presumes to speak from a self-appointed moral high ground, casting itself as a “force for good in the world.” These statements look particularly cynical against the backdrop of the EU’s own steadily deteriorating human rights record.

Intolerance is on the rise across the bloc, with racism and hate speech becoming increasingly frequent. European institutions either turn a blind eye to Russophobia, including its most grotesque manifestations – or, worse, actively condone it. The shameful reality of mass statelessness in the Baltics, alongside the systematic denial of education in their native language to local Russian-speaking populations, is a glaring case in point.

For all their outward talk of democracy and the rule of law, inside the EU they are clamping down on dissent through censorship, bans on inconvenient media outlets, and the silencing of political actors who dare to criticise current Brussels policies.

All of this is dressed up as “safeguarding democracy” when, in fact, what they are doing is engineering a more pliable socio-political environment, tightening their grip on the information space and on the will of their own citizens.

For a more accurate picture of the real human rights situation in Europe, including in Ukraine, I would refer you to the joint report published in June by the Russian and Belarusian Foreign Ministries, entitled “Human Rights Situation in Certain Countries.” It is available in English, so that anyone interested, including international audiences, can judge for themselves which document shows genuine concern for human rights.

☝️ And I think we can safely say that the comparison will not reflect well on the opus signed by Kaja Kallas.

shorturl.at/xo1GI

08/09/2026

04/09/2026

The Russian delegation took part in the international conference “From Geneva to Helsinki: Founding Process and Core Purpose of the OSCE”
(Bern, 3–4 September 2026) organised by the Swiss OSCE Chairmanship-in -Office.

• A high-level panel discussion attended by Mr. Ignazio Cassis, OSCE CiO, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland and Mr. Feridun H. Sinirlioğlu, OSCE Secretary General was the key event of the conference.

• The participants stressed the importance of preserving the OSCE's role as a platform for holding a dialogue and drawing on historical experience in the challenging geopolitical environment of today.

• Historians from several European OSCE participating States presented their studies and findings on the historical period.

• The conference programme featured a presentation of a publication compiling diplomatic documents relating to the 1973–1975 Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, which led to the signing of the Helsinki Final Act on 1 August 1975, by the Researching Center of Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland (Dodis).

• Whilst the editorial team highlighted the Soviet Union's role in the Helsinki Process in their statements, they had failed to invite Russian archivists to co-author and publish historical records relating to the work of the Soviet delegation during the CSCE.

• When talking with the organisers and participants, we pointed out that such an approach clearly does not promote unbiased analysis and examination of this historical period.

• Russian archives hold a considerable number of documents covering the work of the Soviet delegation during the negotiations in Geneva and Helsinki in 1973–1975.

• You can find some of them by exploring the virtual exhibition available on the website of the Permanent Mission of Russia to the OSCE, which was compiled to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Helsinki Final Act using materials from the Archive of Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation.
🔗shorturl.at/H1HTJ

03/09/2026

31/08/2026

⚡️ Article by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, “International Cooperation in the Arctic: Challenges and Opportunities,” published on Arctic.ru

📰 Read in full (https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/2136949/)

✍️ On 19 August, a landmark event took place in Arctic shipping. For the first time, a container ship from China arrived at the port of Murmansk via the Northern Sea Route, a vital part of the Trans-Arctic Transport Corridor. In collaboration with our international partners this represents the start of a new phase in the development of Russia’s Arctic region, which accounts for at least 10 percent of the country’s GDP and is home to more than 2.5 million of our citizens.

In this regard, I would like to share a number of considerations on how we assess the current state of affairs in the Arctic and how we plan to develop international cooperation there.

***

Russia and international partners in the Arctic

• The Foundations of the Russian State Policy in the Arctic for the Period up to 2035, approved by President Vladimir Putin, focus the efforts of all government bodies on improving the quality of life for the population of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, promoting economic growth in its territories, protecting the environment and fostering mutually beneficial international cooperation. Foreign policy priorities in high latitudes have been enshrined in the currently effective Concept of the Foreign Policy of the Russian Federation of March 31, 2023.

• In the Arctic, Russia is seeking to preserve peace and stability, reduce the level of threats to national security, and create favourable external conditions for the country’s socio-economic development. We are open to interaction with all constructively minded foreign countries displaying reciprocal readiness to put these ideas into practice.

• The countries that cooperate closely with us in the Arctic include, first and foremost, China and India. There are prospects for interaction in the Far North with Brazil, Indonesia, Iran and other countries.

Challenges for international cooperation in the Arctic

• Preserving the Arctic as an area of peace and cooperation meets the interests of the entire international community, and Russia is undoubtedly interested in this as well.

• Meanwhile, there are those who do not share this point of view. How else can one explain the fact that NATO countries, as well as the Alliance as a whole, are driving the region towards militarisation and creating hotbeds of international tension there? NATO is conducting large-scale military exercises involving non-regional countries and introducing new components of its command-and-control system.

• Such military activity in the Far North poses a direct threat to Russia’s security. NATO and other Western countries make no secret of their true motives, openly declaring their intention to turn the Arctic into a new front for opposing the development of Russia and its like-minded partners.

• One manifestation of the West’s anti-Russian policy has been the disruption of previously effective mechanisms of multilateral cooperation in the Far North. The Arctic Council, established almost 30 years ago, on September 19, 1996, remains the only functioning intergovernmental format. Russia is ready to resume the full-fledged work of the Arctic Council, provided that all parties engage in good faith and take into account the legitimate interests of every participant.

The future of international cooperation in the Arctic

• A glance at the world map makes it clear that Russia has been, is, and will remain a leading Arctic state. The strategic importance of the Arctic to our country’s national interests and security will also continue to grow.

• In our economic activities, we will continue to proceed from the understanding that the Arctic maritime areas form an integral part of the World Ocean.

• Russia’s foreign policy in the Arctic will remain comprehensive and pragmatic. We support the Arctic’s development as an integral part of the broader Eurasian space of security and cooperation.

31/08/2026

⚡️ Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation:

The West is already gearing up for elections… in Russia.

The Press Bureau of the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation ( ) reports that, according to information received by the SVR, the EU and leading European countries are implementing a large-scale strategy aimed at destabilising the situation in Russia ahead of the nationwide voting day this September.

Europe’s self-proclaimed “champions of law and democracy” are pursuing a twofold objective: to disrupt the normal electoral process and discredit the results of the vote at every level of the election campaign.

Every “tool” in the arsenal of anti-Russian aggression has been brought into play. At the July 13 summit of the so-called “coalition of the willing” in Paris, convened to discuss a new pan-European missile defence system, European participants reportedly urged the Kiev regime to intensify sabotage and terrorist attacks, as well as strikes on targets both in the liberated Russian territories and deep inside Russia. The aim, they calculated, was to sow panic among the population and divert the resources of state institutions and law enforcement agencies away from their core responsibilities.

Plans to carry out cyberattacks against Russia’s election infrastructure are also being discussed during what have become routine visits to Ukraine by representatives of European intelligence services.

The task of promoting claims about the supposed “illegitimacy and unlawfulness” of an election that has not even taken place yet has been assigned to structures of the Russian non-systemic opposition based abroad.

Thus, in June, a group of the most rabid Russophobes operating under the name “PACE platform for dialogue with Russian democratic forces” reportedly received from its European handlers a well-funded assignment to intensify calls for Russians to boycott the elections and for the international community to refuse in advance to recognise their results.

A similar agenda is being pursued – likewise not without financial incentive – by defectors involved in the “Brussels Dialogue” format operating under the European parliament. The difference is that they expect Russian citizens not merely to abstain from voting, but to engage in active civil disobedience.

At recent events in Vilnius and Berlin, Europe’s so-called “defenders of democracy” reportedly tasked members of the non-systemic opposition to dig up or fabricate compromising material on representatives of established political parties and stage provocations at polling stations in Russia and abroad.

According to available information, once the electoral cycle is over, PACE and the European parliament are preparing to issue statements refusing to recognise the results of the elections in Russia, citing alleged “gross violations during their preparation and conduct”.

☝️ It goes without saying that neither Ukraine, where a corrupt and long-expired regime remains in power, nor Russophobic “political émigrés” detached from their homeland, nor the totalitarian-liberal Western circles standing behind them will be able to prevent Russian citizens from making their choice.

👉 Russia knows how to fight back – not only against aggressors on the external front, but also against their futile attempts to undermine our country from within.

26/08/2026

📑 Доклад Министерства иностранных дел Российской Федерации «О противоправных действиях киевского режима в отношении Украинской православной церкви (УПЦ), её священнослужителей и прихожан» (по состоянию на июнь 2026 года)

Читать доклад полностью: shorturl.at/30WAi

❗️ Киевские националисты, захватившие власть в 2014 года в результате антиконституционного вооружённого государственного переворота, на протяжении всего срока своего администрирования Украины последовательно создают многоуровневую систему жёсткого подавления религиозной свободы, превратив духовную сферу в поле для экспериментов над достоинством личности.

Конфессиональный фактор утвердился в качестве одного из ключевых инструментов государства по управлению социальными процессами, активно задействуется для фальсификации истории, легитимизации и героизации нацизма, устранения проявлений инакомыслия, светской и церковной оппозиции.

Массовые нарушения основных прав и свобод человека на украинской земле — главная характеристика многолетнего правления киевского режима.

***

👉 Зеленский и его окружение осуществляют фрагментацию конфессионального поля, выстраивая отношения с религиозными организациями и верующими по принципу степени толерантности с их стороны к насаждаемой властью человеконенавистнической идеологии.

В этой парадигме реализуются масштабные административные и правовые меры, направленные на максимальное ослабление позиций канонической Украинской православной церкви (УПЦ) в общественном пространстве вплоть до демонтажа её управленческих структур.

Подтверждением тому являются представленные в докладе многочисленные свидетельства проявлений дискриминации, а также публичные выступления представителей украинских властных структур самого разного уровня, открыто заявляющих о конечных целях кампании — ликвидации крупнейшей религиозной организации страны, принуждении её паствы и священнослужителей к переходу в подконтрольную официальным органам и заинтересованным бизнес-кругам так называемую «Православную церковь Украины» (ПЦУ), экспроприации объектов недвижимости, предметов культа и святынь УПЦ.



Созданный киевским режимом управляемый хаос в украинском православии позволяет властям, ПЦУ и радикальным группировкам на протяжении многих лет осуществлять силовые захваты монастырей и храмов, незаконную перерегистрацию общин, культивирование риторики ненависти, немотивированной агрессии и насилия по отношению к духовенству и верующим канонической церкви.

К расправам привлекаются участники радикальных националистических группировок, которым гарантируется освобождение от юридической ответственности при нарушении ими закона. На Украине выстроена и негласно легализована целая система кулуарных договорённостей, поощряющая нарушение основных прав и свобод верующих и священнослужителей.

❌ В настоящее время религиозные гонения не просто усилились. Они окончательно приобрели системный характер, что признаётся даже многими западными политиками

Одной из причин текущего катастрофического положения православных христиан на Украине является поддержка политики киевского режима в религиозной сфере со стороны западных стран и, прежде всего — США, что также является предметом исследования в данном докладе.

Несмотря на огромное количество зафиксированных фактов гонений в отношении канонической церкви и очевидного нарушения взятых на себя этой страной ранее международно-правовых обязательств в области прав человека, данные обстоятельства до сих пор не находят должного отражения в документах многосторонних универсальных организаций, включая ООН и её руководящие структуры, где воздерживаются от детализированных докладов по данной теме и жесткой реакции, ограничиваясь дежурными упоминаниями этой проблемы.

📑 Представленный доклад призван в очередной раз засвидетельствовать массовые нарушения права на свободу вероисповедания и связанные с этим нарушения иных прав и свобод человека на Украине

#ПреступленияКиевскогоРежима