Tag Archives: Russia

Everything about Russia in all its incarnations through the centuries – Rus Tzardom, Russian Empire, USSR, Rusian Federation.

Liberation of Bulgaria in 1878. With a prophetic essay by Fyodor Dostoevsky from 1877.

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On March 3, 1878, the Treaty of San Stefano was signed in a suburb of Constantinople, recording our country’s victory in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878.

Under the terms of the Treaty, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro gained full independence, while Bulgaria, which had been under Ottoman rule for nearly 500 years (!), was granted broad autonomy.

The date of the signing of the Treaty of San Stefano became a national holiday in Bulgaria – the Day of Liberation from Ottoman Rule.

The victory of the Russian forces in the war against the Ottoman Empire and the conclusion of the Treaty laid the foundation for future constructive cooperation between Russia and Bulgaria. For a long time, relations between our countries developed steadily and progressively.

History Of Diplomacy: A key role in the conclusion of the Treaty of San Stefano was played by the distinguished Russian diplomat and statesman Nikolai Ignatyev, who for more than ten years served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire, and signed the Treaty on behalf of Russia.

* * *

🇷🇺🇧🇬  Today, Russian-Bulgarian relations have been virtually reduced to zero. The current government is pursuing an openly Russophobic policy, continuing to dismantle the foundations of bilateral cooperation. Unfortunately, this also affects the way historical events are presented in the local media landscape.

Ambassador of Russia to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova:

“In recent years, the chronicle of the Liberation has been ruthlessly rewritten. Alleged ‘imperial ambitions’ of Russia are brought to the forefront, while nothing is said about the truly nationwide movement in defence of our enslaved Bulgarian brothers, which played a decisive role in the decision of Emperor Alexander II to declare war on the Ottoman Empire.”

Excerpts from the congratulatory message by Russian Ambassador to Bulgaria Eleonora Mitrofanova on the occasion of Bulgaria’s national holiday, the Day of Liberation from Ottoman Rule, March 3, 2026.

☝️ We recall that 100,000 Russian soldiers gave their lives for the freedom of the peoples of the Balkans, including Bulgaria.

Source: Russian MFA


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Statement by Permanent Representative V.A. Nebenzya at the UN Security Council Meeting on Ukraine

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Translated by InfoDefense.

Mr. President,

Formally speaking, I am Ukrainian. And I have such a strange surname. Slavs know: it is hard to find this surname even in Ukraine. It comes from the Zaporozhye Cossacks. My father is a genuine Ukrainian, and my mother is also from the Cossacks. More genuinely Ukrainian than you, Ms. Betsa [Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine] and you, Mr. Melnik [Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations]. But for us there is no difference — we are all one. Millions of Ukrainians live in Russia, millions of Russians in Ukraine, and in Belarus as well. You yourselves know this perfectly well. That is not the point. Our nationality is shared, but our faiths are different. From Kievan Rus, which you sold for thirty pieces of silver. During the Great Patriotic War, my father, a Ukrainian, went to fight in Leningrad for his country, for his Fatherland. He added a year to his age so that he would be accepted as a volunteer. He lived his whole life with that added year. Back then we had a common Fatherland. And what have you turned yours into now? Almost no one sitting in this hall understands or can understand this. Then we fought the Nazis together; now we fight alone — without you, without those whom you have turned into Nazis — for the people of Ukraine, so that they do not become the same.

Yes, this has continued for four years. Yes, I am not happy that people are dying. But if necessary, it will continue as long as it takes so that you no longer brainwash these people.

The meeting convened by the European members of the Security Council has nothing to do with maintaining international peace and security, nor with the concern for the civilian population of Ukraine mentioned in the request. The European countries are clearly not inclined to support the current trilateral negotiations aimed at finding a sustainable and long-term solution to the Ukrainian crisis, nor are they interested in the future of the Ukrainian people.

This was fully confirmed at the Munich Conference held just over a week ago. What did the leaders of most European countries, the EU and NATO, talk about there? About arming Europe, strengthening its eastern flank, preparing for war. Referring to his country’s history and geography, Chancellor Merz assured of his readiness once again to stand at the head of Europe, making the Bundeswehr the strongest conventional army on the continent as soon as possible. It is interesting how many European countries with slightly more modest geopolitical ambitions wondered where exactly this Bundeswehr would lead them.

Kir Starmer did not lag behind the German commander — for him as well the prospects of war are no longer distant, and he is ready for the struggle. Remarkably, recalling history, the Prime Minister added that European security is impossible without Britain. In a similar vein — about the importance of Anglo-German relations for Europe — British Prime Minister Chamberlain spoke after returning from the Munich Conference of 1938. I think it is unnecessary to remind you how that ended, including for Britain itself.
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Plan GOELRO – Lenin’s revolutionary plan for the electrification of the USSR

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Electrification of the young Socialist state was one of the many vitally important tasks that Lenin embarked on after the Revolution, and that was carried to admirable heights in the subsequent years.

On December 22, 1920, the VIII All-Russian Congress of Soviets opened, adopting a plan for the electrification of Russia – the GOELRO plan

The initiator and inspiration of the GOELRO plan was V.I.Lenin. To draw up the plan, On February 21st 1920, the State Commission for Electrification of Russia (GOELRO) was created. GOELRO, short for “State Electrification of Russia” was the plan for the development of not only the energy sector, but the entire economy. The commission included over 200 of the best Russian engineers and scientists, headed by G.M.Krzhizhanovsky.

By December 1920, the commission had completed its work. The Congress, held on December 22-29, 1920, approved the GOELRO plan. In his report to the congress, Lenin, calling the GOELRO plan the second program of the party, put forward a brilliant formula:

“Communism is Soviet power plus electrification of the entire country. Without an electrification plan, we cannot move on to real construction… Only when the country is electrified, when the technical base of modern large-scale industry is provided for industry, agriculture and transport, only then will we finally win.”

Lenin ended his historic speech to thunderous applause from the congress delegates with the following words:

“ …if Russia is covered with a dense network of electric stations and powerful technical equipment, then our economic communist construction will become a model for the future socialist Europe and Asia.”

The GOELRO plan was calculated for 10-15 years and provided for a radical reconstruction of the national economy based on electrification.
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“Munich, 2007: The Day the West Was Told No” – an analysis by Gerry Nolan, preceded by the speech and a summary from the Russian MFA

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On February 10, 2007, President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin of the Russian Federation delivered his famous Munich speech.

During the Cold War, the heads of the defence ministries of the NATO powers gathered in Munich. From 1993 onwards, the event became less militarised and began to invite not only NATO members, but also anyone deemed worthy of attention.

Vladimir Putin’s speech was devoted to the expansion of NATO, the problem in the field of disarmament, the unipolar dominance in world politics, the degradation of the OSCE institution, the vision of Russia’s place and role in the modern world, taking into account current realities and threats. In Western political circles, this has sparked controversy over the resumption of the Cold War.

The full speech can be summarised as follows:

The Cold War left us with ideological stereotypes and other patterns of block thinking. The unipolar world is disastrous for everyone, including the sovereign, because it destroys it from the inside. And it has nothing to do with democracy. Russia is constantly being taught democracy by those who do not want to learn it themselves. Unilateral illegitimate actions have not solved a single problem — there are no fewer wars, even more people are dying in conflicts. The United States imposes its system of law on others, both economically and politically. Well, who would like that?

We need a new security architecture that takes into account the interests of all. The Soviet regime transformed peacefully, so why is it necessary to bomb now at every opportunity? Only the UN can use force, it is not necessary to replace it with NATO or the European Union. Why are they deploying missile defence in Europe? NATO expansion has nothing to do with security. Who is the target of this expansion? What happened to the assurances made after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact?

Among other things, thanks to the choice of the people of Russia, the Berlin Wall fell, and now new walls are being imposed on us. The OSCE was created to ensure the security of all, but in fact it has turned into a vulgar tool to ensure the interests of a group of countries. We would like to have responsible partners in order to build a world, in which security and prosperity would be not for a select few, but for all.

Source


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The speech is also available with a voice-over dub at Odysee, Rumble and Telegram.

🎙 On February 10, 2007, President of Russia Vladimir Putin delivered his historic and in many ways prophetic address at the Munich Security Conference, focusing on the state of international relations and the mounting challenges to global security.

❗️ The issues and themes raised by the President have lost none of their relevance.
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Letter to the media from Ambassador Andrey A. Pritsepov – Reblog

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This is a reblog of the publication at the site of the Russian Foreign Ministry, with a condensed version of the article at the Telegram channel of the Russian Embassy in Guyana.

Letter to the media from Ambassador Andrey A. Pritsepov

The article was denied publication in Guyanese newspaper “Stabroek News” for political reasons.

Dear Editor,

It was not without interest I read the article “Ukraine in outreach to Guyana” from January 24, 2026 in Stabroek News and acknowledged editor-in-chief’s admiration for the Ukrainian flag as well as for focusing on in-depth analysis of the international events. It makes it easier to comment.

As I wrote before, I remain the strongest supporter of the Maxima by your President H.E. Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali stating that real diplomacy should be based only on truth and the facts. So here, I feel privileged to remind the readers about the truth and the facts on Ukraine.

1. Ukraine is ruled by a neo-fascist, corrupt and illegitimate ex-president. His presidential term expired on May 21, 2024 and according to chapter V of the Ukrainian constitution could not be prolonged. He came to power by promising peace to all Ukrainians and deceived them all by launching the bloodiest war in the history of modern Europe while being sponsored, encouraged and supplied by NATO. Europe spent more than 270 bln USD on Kiev in order to defeat Russia on the battlefield.
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U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli has “a very big Russia problem”, July 18, 2024

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“Honorary European” – as the panel host called him, U.S. Army Gen. Christopher Cavoli: “We are going to have a very big Russia problem”. This is a a fragment from Aspen Security Forum on July 18, 2024.


Backup at Rumble.

Video with our commentary was first published at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.

The question from the panel host:

Chris, I’m coming back to you here because as European states think about that future and that possibility of, as you described, whatever it takes, which in practice could mean significant increases in defence spending, painful trade-offs of countries that have already emptied their armouries, depleted their munition stockpiles, given away their artillery and other kit, and all the countries represented here have done a lot on that. If you’re a European country debating this, you have to account for the question. Do I allocate more to Ukraine and put the fire out, as Jonathan put it, or do I look to that future that General Keane outlined yesterday and replenish my own armouries in an environment where populations and publics, just like here, may not have an appetite to go to 4% or 5% of GDP? How do you advise those countries in that position? What should they do?

Transcript of the answer, with our highlighing:

The outcome on the ground in Ukraine is terribly, terribly important, vital to future European and global security.

I think that’s been well recognised over the last couple of days here. I think it’s been well expressed on this panel. Supporting Ukraine is vital for our security. We can’t be under any illusions.

At the end of a conflict in Ukraine, however it concludes, we are going to have a very big Russia problem. We are going to have a situation where Russia is reconstituting its force, is located on the borders of NATO, is led by largely the same people as it is right now, is convinced that we’re the adversary, and is very, very angry. We have a big Russia problem looming as well. The answer here is yes, you have to do both.

The trick is that industrial production and our industrial base has to support that admission. The money’s there. You’ve heard this across the board from Jens. The money’s being produced by nations right now. We’re having a little bit more of a challenge having stuff to buy. That’s really a strategic problem for the alliance. If I can tie this to a couple of the other responses that came, Stefano’s discussions about the European Union and what they’re doing to fortify this is really an important part because they’re working hard on the industrial base.

The Washington Treaty has the famous Article 5. We’re all aware of that. Article 5 is my job. Once we get to that point, I’m responsible for making sure Article 5 works. Before Article 5 is Article 3. Article 3 states that all member nations will provide for their own defence. This really is the sort of thing the European Union is working on. This idea of competition really is a thing of the past in the sense that when we were both contemplating small, bespoke, out of area operations, we might have collided, but the European Union, to the best of my knowledge, has no thought process or procedures in place to conduct large-scale, continent-wide territorial defence. We kind of moved past that, but we terribly need the European Union’s efforts to stimulate the industrial base and to provide for nations Article 3 responsibilities so that I can execute Article 5 when the time comes.

Finally, I would say this all goes to what we heard. I think it’s underappreciated in our country, in the United States, just how much our European allies have awakened to the fact that the house is on fire. This is not a show. This is not just rhetoric. This is true concern about the stability of their continent and the survival of their states. So this is fundamental, and we should recognise it and encourage its development.

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PS: The economy of European countries in 2022 – 2025 lost up to 1.6 trillion euros from anti-Russian sanctions. This is stated in the message of the Russian Foreign Ministry in connection with the meeting of the UN General Assembly on the occasion of the International Day against Unilateral Coercive Measures. Source

If you think the collapse of the Soviet Union was good for the people, you should think again

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In the previous publication we saw how Yeltsin was conquering America, on his warpath to destroy the Soviet past. But what future did his flirting with the West bring to Russia? The time to come became known as “The Wild ’90s”…

The following material from FKT – Geschichte der Sowjetunion (History of the Soviet Union), first translated at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”.

If you think the collapse of the Soviet Union was good for the people, you should think again

In the 1990s, the Soviet Union disintegrated and Russia began moving towards a market economy. However, this transition brought a severe economic collapse, widespread poverty, and a sharp rise in organised crime.

The plundering of an entire country

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the team of “young reformers” led by Anatoly Chubais skillfully facilitated the transfer of state assets into the hands of the so-called “most deserving.”
Of course, this process was presented under the banner of “universal equality and justice.” Conveniently, those who had close ties to Western companies turned out to be the “most deserving.”
For example, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, through his company Yukos and his connections to the Rockefeller family, was on the verge of transferring a significant portion of control over Russian oil reserves to foreign companies before his arrest stopped this process.

Here are the names of the oligarchs who made their fortunes by stealing from the naive Soviets who had just lost their country:

🔴Mikhail Khodorkovsky (Yukos) – connections to ExxonMobil, Chevron, and the Rockefeller Foundation;

🔴Boris Berezovsky – connections to British companies and offshore financial institutions;

🔴Roman Abramovich – dealings with Sibneft and owner of FC Chelsea;

🔴Vladimir Gusinsky (Media-Most) – partnerships with Credit Suisse and European banks;

🔴Vladimir Potanin (Interros) – cooperation with international investment funds and metallurgical companies;

🔴Mikhail Fridman (Alfa Group) – partnership with BP through TNK-BP and offshore companies in the UK and USA;

🔴Anatoly Chubais – supported by the IMF, World Bank, and foreign advisors in privatisation efforts.

The instrument for the “honest” expropriation of the population was the voucher. This document supposedly gave every Russian citizen the right to a small share of state property. Originally, it was said that one could buy two brand-new Volga cars with a voucher. Soon its value dropped to the equivalent of two cases of vodka. The depreciation continued until a voucher was worth no more than two bottles of spirits.

Meanwhile, privatised state assets began to concentrate in the hands of particularly cunning individuals. Thus, Russia witnessed the rise of its first oligarchs.
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Yeltsin declared communism defeated. Forgetting to clarify that there were still Communists left in his own country. June 20, 1992

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Such was the title of the “Independent Newspaper” on June 20, 1992, telling about Yeltisn’s speech at the US Congress on June 17.

It sounded almost like a declaration of opening of a witch-hunt on Communists, as the fascist forces — both domestically and abroad — were preparing to take revenge for the defeat in 1945. What awaited the Russian, Soviet people in 1992, was 8 years of the so-called “Wild ’90s”, with millions dead as a result of poverty and crime, while the industrial and intellectual might of Soviet Union was plundered and shipped to the West, to ensure prosperity of Europe and the USA.

A little over a year later, on October 5 1993, Yeltsin suspended the activities of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and other opposition parties in Russia.

The material is from June 17, posted by the “Vedomosty of the Muscovy State” TG channel. The newspaper article consists of three sub-articles. Below, we are presenting a complete translation of the first two, initially published at our TG channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”. The third sub-article “The visit to Canada was less noisy, but more realistic”, is not that significant despite what the title wants the reader to believe.

The president of Russia conquered America

Washington. The U.S. Congress. June 17. 11:00. The speech of the President of Russia. A triumph.

The speech was very precisely designed for the audience. Perhaps this is the first professionally prepared speech by the Russian Embassy for the country’s leader. The congressmen applauded like children, and only some ambassadors from some African countries greeted Yeltsin’s words with silence. From the speech:

“The communist idol has collapsed. We will not let him rise again on our ground. Freedom and communism are incompatible.” *

“We have stopped military supplies to Afghanistan. We eliminated the distortions in relations with Cuba.”

“We invite American capital to the Russian market and say: don’t be late!”

“The adoption of the law on support of freedoms in Russia by the Congress means more than dollar injections.”

“Irving Berlin ended his song like this: God bless America! I’d like to add: and Russia!” **

Yeltsin was more direct than one would expect in such a high-profile gathering. A man from insecure Eastern Europe felt freer than the lean American establishment. Maybe Yeltsin was even more understandable to the ordinary Americans.

Regarding American prisoners in the former Soviet Union:

“We will look through every document in all archives. If at least one person is alive, I will find him. I will return him to his family.”

At the final press conference at the White House, to the question “Do you think Gorbachev and Stalin did not know about the prisoners?” —  the president of the RF answered — “That’s the thing, they knew. They hid it. But the era of lies is over.”

Judging by the customary questions of Washington taxi drivers: who is better for you (Russians): Yeltsin or Gorbachev? —the former is becoming more and more interesting to the public. The Russian leader is popular with Americans (and especially in an election year) under the slogan: “We want changes!”

Yeltsin woke up the congressmen. The Congress exploded with applause. But this does not mean making a decision on the most favoured nation status for Russia. Boris Yeltsin is an optimist. He estimated the chances of help as 9 out of 10. Bush agreed with the forecast.

———
Notes:

* In this statement, Yeltsin eerily echoed one uttering from Adolf Hitler’s speech in Berlin for Heroes’ Memorial Day, March 15, 1942!

The Bolshevik colossus, whose cruel danger we only now realise, may never again touch the sacred fields of Europe – and this is our irrevocable resolve – but instead it should receive its final borders far from them!

** A video of Boris Yeltsin’s speech to the US Congress ending with the words “God bless America!” has been making rounds on YouTube. This caused ire among modern Russians. As can be seen from the quote above, the video was clipped, and he continued speaking, saying “I’d like to add: and Russia!” However, this clipped video managed to draw away attention from the more important, essential points in his speech — setting the stage for the plundering of Russia.

But he still has to conquer Russia

The results of the Russian president’s visit to Washington, the numerous agreements he signed and his brilliant speech in the US Congress were, without a doubt, one of the main events of 1992 and will leave a deep imprint on the further development of international relations.
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A short history of Finnish-Russian relations

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A cornerstone in the official Finnish Russomania, is the claim that Russia wants to consume the whole of Finland.

Our subscriber came across a historic step-by-step summary demonstrating the absolute inconsistency of such an accusation, which we published in a two-part post at “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”:

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They didn’t, at any point from 1809-1947. That is the hallucination that Finns have, that Russia wants their lands.

In 1945 Roosevelt insisted that Finland gives up all the territories that Soviet Union had suggested in negotiations of 1938 with Finland, just to secure their second largest city against Finnish aggression, with Nazi Germany alliance and their troops in Finland.

Remember, the secret clause in the Molotov-Rittentrop agreement dictated that Finland belonged to Soviet Union sphere of influence. That there is not to be German troops etc in there. And what did Germans and Finns do? Exactly the opposite!

As well, Finland was the country for Nazi Germany’s submarine design and research, that is why Finland had own submarines as it did the designs for Nazi Germany, that was denied having submarines according to WWI peace treaty. So having it in Finland made it possible to circumnavigate those treaty limitations.

The Soviet Union had all the legitimate reasons to worry about the Finnish agenda and objectives, seeing what Finns did in 5 years after getting independence from Soviet Union.

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The main attraction of Helsinki – Alexander II and the Cathedral, St Nicholas’s Church. Photo by Beorn, 2016.

🔹 Russia formed Finland in 1809 by defining its borders for the first time in history, when Sweden lost their eastern territory to Russia.

🔹 Russia gave Finns their language, by making Finnish the official language in the country, before that you only had Swedish language for everything.
And no, Russia didn’t even demand Russian language be used.
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“When Russians Are Coming”. Scandinavian satire.

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There was a time when the Scandinavians were not yet completely subjected to the russophobic fear-mongering, and could take the whole narrative with a wry smile. We have translated two skits – a Swedish and a Norwegian one – ponderingwhat they would be doing when the “Russians are coming”. The materials were published at our “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden” channels on Telegram, Odysee and Rumble, but never made it to the Beehive!

It is something that we are going to rectify now.

The Norwegian Response Plan


Backup at Rumble.

This satirical skit from “Martin and Mikkelsen” was first shown on the NRK 1 state TV on the 23rd of March 2017 and later published on the Facebook of NRK Underholdning (NRK Entertainment) on the 25th of May 2020. It’s quite similar to the Swedish skit, in which the Swedes intend to run to Norway fast as hell.

It is not explained why the Russians would suddenly decide to come, but at least the planned reception is more sensible, than what is heard nowadays from the talking heads of NATO.

Out Russian translation of the skit can be found on Telegram, Odysee and Rumble.

First published on out Telegram channel here.

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We could not find a similar satirical skit from the Danish TV, however, the Danes were ahead of things as actual politics present something just as hilarious: The real thing!

In 1972, right wing liberalist politician Mogens Glistrup founded The Progress Party and presented quite an unconventional party programme.

Among other things, the income tax was to be abolished; the public sector had to be greatly reduced (abolition of “papirnusseriet”, ‘the paper-pushing’).

There were to be monthly elections for a greatly reduced Parliament, and, the Danish Defence was to be abolished all together and replaced by an answering machine repeating “We Surrender!” in Russian.

At the 1973 elections, the Progress Party became second largest with 15,9% of the votes and 28 members of parliament (out of 179).

Sweden’s Readiness for Russian Invasion – Satire, 2014


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A satirical SNN news program from Spring 2014, Sweden’s military readiness was debated during the National Conference “People and Defence”. Mikael Tornving interviews Lieutenant Colonel Erik Liljestål. Original video on YouTube.

Of special note is the implied attitude of the Swedes to the Finnish (military).

Out Russian translation of the skit can be found on Odysee and Rumble.

First published at our Telegram channel here on the occasion of Sweden joining NATO. Here is the text of that post:
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The new Finnish doctrine: Ignorance, deception, and ingratitude. An Article by Dmitry Medvedev

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The following article war written by Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, and published by TASS.

UPDATE 15.09.2025: Russian MFA issued an official translation of the article on their Telegraph blog on September 13. We are updating this blog with the official text, making it a re-blog. All illustrations are ours.

👉 We are covering the “Finnish Question” in a series of posts at our Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shieldmaiden”. The series “Finland’s Dirty Secret: From “Neutral” Ally to Hitler’s Partner” will be published at the Beehive later, upon its conclusion. Read the two publications by Maria Zaharova, in response to the Finnish PM Stubb’s ignoramous statements: part 1 and part 2.

👉 See also The Art of Timely Betrayal. Why the Finnish SS avoided punishment? and The European Genocide of the Russian People.

The new Finnish doctrine: Ignorance, deception, and ingratitude

Deputy Chairman of Security Council Dmitry Medvedev draws historical parallels between today’s Finnish leaders and their predecessors of nearly a century ago, and brings up the consequences of their past aggression against Russia.

Last week, I visited the Russian-Finnish border in the Leningrad Region and spoke with local authorities and our border guards. The border, once bustling, is now deserted. By Helsinki’s decision, decades of constructive and mutually beneficial relations have been ruined. Ordinary Finns are the first to feel the consequences. They had gained much from thriving trade and economic cooperation, and now they openly voice frustration with the misguided policies of their own government, which clearly go against their interests.

I would like to say a few words about the underlying causes of this situation. It is by no means accidental. Today’s turbulent geopolitics has brought to light the long-standing issues and revealed their true nature. This is what happened to Finland.

A visit to our northwestern regions in early autumn inevitably brings to mind one of the most tragic dates in the history of St Petersburg, which is the onset of the siege on September 8, 1941. Yet, it seems that we are the only ones to remember those dark days. The direct perpetrators of those events are making every effort to erase the traces of their crimes from historical memory, or at least to avoid “inconvenient” parallels with their current policies. And this concerns not only Germany, which at the official level refuses to recognise the siege of Leningrad as a crime against humanity.

Death to the German-Finnish Occupiers!
This is TASS Window #11 from Leningrad, created in July of 1944 by Vasily Selivanov.
The poster shows the Finns taking Hitler’s baits of the “Greater Finland to Urals and Leningrad”. It is accompanied by a verse by K. Vysokovsky.
— I’ll take the Urals! – the bandit cried,
Accepting Hitler’s bait at face value,
The Russian “Hurra!” was then heard,
Turning the bandits into dust and feathers!
Source: Beorn And The Shieldmaiden

We should not forget that it would have been impossible to impose the siege of Leningrad, a siege that took hundreds of thousands of civilian lives, without the involvement of the Finnish armed forces. Succumbing to revenge-seeking moods and striving to revise the outcomes of the 1939-1940 Soviet-Finnish standoff, the Finnish leadership recklessly plunged into the furnace of war alongside Nazi Germany. At that time, ultra-nationalist propaganda narratives prevailed in Finnish society. With the approval of their Nazi brethren, Helsinki seriously discussed the idea of Finnlands Lebensraum (Finland’s Living Space). The country’s military-political authorities intended to reclaim territories ceded to the Soviet Union under the Moscow Peace Treaty of March 12, 1940 and to reach “natural borders of Greater Finland” from the Gulf of Finland to the Barents Sea, including East Karelia, Leningrad and its environs, and the Kola Peninsula freeing these lands from the hated Russians. In their wildest fantasies, the Finns wanted to advance beyond the Ural Mountains all the way to the Ob River. Back in the day, these territorial claims (in proportion to the country’s actual size) were among the greediest in Europe. They even surpassed territorial claims to neighbouring states voiced by other Axis countries, including Italy, Romania, and Hungary.
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USSR and China: United in Victory | RT Documentary

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Victory in the Second World War was won through the efforts of millions of people from different nations – both on the front line and behind it. In 2025, Russia and China mark the 80th anniversary of the war’s end.


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In 1937, Japan launched a full-scale invasion of China, advancing towards the country’s largest cities. Within six weeks of capturing Nanjing, Japanese forces had killed more than 300,000 civilians. The atrocity became known as the Nanjing Massacre. Around the same time, Unit 731 was established– a secret Japanese military unit based near Harbin that subjected prisoners to inhumane experiments and developed biological weapons.

The Soviet Union was the first to come to China’s aid. Shipments of weapons, fuel, and ammunition were sent, while Soviet pilots and thousands of military advisers joined the fight against the Japanese invaders. By 1941 alone, China had received hundreds of aircraft and tens of thousands of pieces of weaponry.

By the final stage of the war, the two nations were fighting side by side. Chinese cadets trained at Soviet military academies, while Mao Zedong’s son, Mao Anying, served with the Red Army as it helped to liberate Europe from fascism. In August of 1945, Soviet troops dealt a decisive blow to the Japanese Kwantung Army in Manchuria along with their Chinese allies. The victory over Japan in 1945 became a shared chapter of history for both Moscow and Beijing.

Systemic sabotage – Maria Zaharova’s response to Mark Rutte

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Russian FM spokeswoman Maria Zaharova responded on the pages of newspaper “Izvestia” to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s statement on the refusal to recognise new territories within Russia. 11.08.2025

Demolition of ‘Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders’ in 2022.

Mark Rutte demanded in an interview with CBS to abandon the legal recognition of new territories within Russia and recalled a funny historical incident:

“We all remember that Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia had embassies in Washington from 1940 to 1991, which meant recognition of the actual control of the USSR over their territories, but never legally acceptance of this fact.”

The very case when misfortune helped: Rutte himself built the historical chain of the rebirth of Nazism into neo-Nazism…

Let’s begin.

In the 1920s and 1930s, as a result of anti-state coup, local fascist governments came to power in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia with the support of Germany and Italy. In 1940, they fled to the West and the democratic left forces came to power, which, having received a mandate from the people in the conditions of the outbreak of World War II, decided to join the USSR as national republics, that is, on equal terms with Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and others.

Moscow responded favourably to the request of the people’s representatives of the Baltic countries who found themselves on the front line of the global confrontation. By the decisions of the VII session of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (https://www.prlib.ru/item/716539) in August 1940, the Soviet Union took the Baltic peoples under its protection. When the Great Patriotic War began, many Soviet soldiers from all over the Union gave their lives for the freedom of the Baltic States from Nazism.

However, in Europe and the United States at that time, the democratic and free choice of the Balts was ignored. When the Nazis fled Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, they settled in the West.

The Estonian Nazis, with the support of the Hitlerites, formed their own pocket government in Oslo, and the Lithuanian and Latvian ones set up embassies in Washington, where they sat throughout the Cold War. They existed with the money of American taxpayers and with the support of the US Congress (Kersten Committee) and the State Department headed by First Deputy Secretary of State Sumner Welles.

For half a century, Americans supported these parasites while Soviet Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia developed (see also below), organised their lives, advanced their economies, enriched their culture, held festivals, competitions, and simply enjoyed life.

The Americans were not at all embarrassed that the heirs of the pro-fascist leftovers were being kept at their side and with their money, despite the fact that the USSR had repeatedly raised this issue with the United States. For Washington, this was an element of pressure on Moscow. A political construct with a rotten filling.

Rutte’s proposal is striking in its immorality, because he is nostalgic for the executioners of the Holocaust, who in the Baltic States did not lag behind the same elements as in Western Ukraine in their dehumanising work.

Demolition of ‘Monument to the Liberators of Soviet Latvia and Riga from the German Fascist Invaders’ in 2022.

And this is a systemic sabotage. The rehabilitation of anti-Soviet collaborators and other “forest brothers” guilty of crimes against civilians and complicity in the Holocaust has been conducted using (pseudo)legal basis. The Euro-Nazi leadership puts bloody executioners on a pedestal and approves the removal of monuments to those who liberated Europe from the brown plague. The rewritten Eurohistory casts doubt on the continued existence of memorials to the real victims of the “new heroes” — monuments at the site of the massacre in Ponary (Lithuania), the Klooga concentration camp (Estonia) and the Salaspils children’s concentration camp (Latvia).

The “United and impoverished Europe” has again relied on the creation of an aggressive belt of Russophobic regimes on the western borders of Russia. Rutte’s rhetoric is part of the ideological accompaniment of this fascization of the Western European part of the continent and the mobilisation of revanchist extremists who are already undergoing combat training in Ukraine.

Let me remind you that 20 years ago they tried to conduct the same experiment with the “Ichkerian emissaries”, for example in Britain, honouring terrorists as ambassadors or even presidents when their compatriots were bleeding in the Caucasus. It didn’t work out then, and it won’t work out now.

By the way, when is Rutte scheduled to receive the credentials of the ambassadors of Catalonia and Scotland?

How did Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia really fare as part of the Soviet Union?

🎙 Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:
(from the weekly briefing on current foreign policy issues, July 24, 2025)

July 21 marked 85 years since the establishment of the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian Soviet Socialist Republics.
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25 Years of the tragic death of submarine “Kursk”

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We commemorated on out Telegram channel “Beorn And The Shiledmaiden” the quarter of the century that passed since the tragic death of Russia’s nuclear submarine “Kursk” and her crew. despite there being an official version of the events, there are many questions that remain. Questions that will remain unanswered for a long time still.

The Tragedy of the Nuclear Submarine “Kursk”: 25 Years Since the Legend’s Demise

On August 12, 2000, one of the most tragic and sadly well-known disasters in the history of the Russian and Soviet Navy occurred in the Barents Sea — the sinking of the nuclear submarine K-141 “Kursk.”

This tragedy left an indelible mark on the consciousness of the entire country and became a symbol of loss, courage, and heroism.

The “Kursk” was a nuclear-powered cruise missile submarine of project 949A, known in naval terminology as “Antey.” This 154-meter-long vessel was one of the most advanced submarines of its time. Its primary mission was to combat powerful enemy surface ships, particularly aircraft carrier groups. The crew consisted of 118 people, including officers, crew members, and employees of the manufacturing plant “Dagdiesel,” who participated in the technical support of the submarine.

In early August 2000, the “Kursk” set out to sea for Northern Fleet exercises. The main task was training missile launches and torpedo firing at training targets simulating the positions of a squadron of warships. The exercises involved the fleet’s best forces, including the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser “Admiral Kuznetsov” and the nuclear missile cruiser “Pyotr Veliky.”

On August 12, around 11:28, a series of powerful underwater explosions was recorded. The first explosion occurred in the submarine’s bow compartment.

❕According to official data, the cause was the explosion of an oxygen-kerosene mixture in a training torpedo 65-76A located in the fourth torpedo tube. Due to mishandling of the torpedoes, fuel leakage occurred, which caused the initial detonation of the ammunition. This first explosion triggered a second, much more powerful explosion of the torpedo warhead, which was 50 times stronger. It completely destroyed the bow section of the submarine and disabled it.

The Crew’s Fight for Survival

The explosions killed the crew in the front part of the submarine, including the command post, but 23 sailors managed to take refuge in the sealed ninth compartment. They continued to fight for the vessel’s survivability for six to eight hours, trying to establish contact with the outside world and await help.

Despite the submariners’ heroism, rescue attempts failed — contact with the submarine could not be established, and soon all 118 people perished.

Nation’s Reaction and Investigation

The sinking of the “Kursk” caused a wave of tragedy and outrage throughout Russia. The sailors’ families, military personnel, and ordinary citizens followed the rescue operation with hope, waiting for a miracle that never came. The rescue operation faced many technical difficulties due to the depth (about 108 meters) and weather conditions.

The investigation determined that the cause of the accident was a defect in the training torpedo, which was faulty and had not undergone proper inspection before use. The closure of the criminal case in 2002 did not end the discussions — alternative theories still circulate among experts and the public. These include possible collisions with a foreign submarine or accidental missile hits.

The submarine was raised from the seabed in 2001. The reactor compartment, which contained nuclear fuel and radioactive equipment, was safely dismantled and removed.

The sinking of the “Kursk” was a severe blow to the image of the Russian Navy, revealing many problems in safety systems, crew training, and naval equipment.

Memorials and monuments have been established in memory of the fallen sailors, and commemorative events are held annually. This tragedy became a symbol of the courage and selflessness of Russian sailors, as well as a lesson for the further development and improvement of naval service.

Source: Maria Pavlova, “Anna News”

We may never learn in our lifetimes what really happened to “Kursk”

There is a version that the death of the “Kursk” nuclear submarine was the result of an attack by a foreign submarine, and the truth was hidden so that the Third World War would not break out.
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Victory Parade in Moscow on June 24, 1945. With English subtitles and in colour

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On June 24, 1945, the first parade dedicated to the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War was held in Moscow on the Red Square. The combined regiments of the fronts, the combined regiment of the people’s Commissariat of defence, the combined regiment of the Navy, military academies, military schools, and the troops of the Moscow garrison were brought to the Victory Parade. The parade was commanded by Marshal of the Soviet Union K. K. Rokossovsky, and the parade was taken by Marshal of the Soviet Union G. K. Zhukov. From the podium of the Lenin Mausoleum, Stalin watched the parade, as well as Molotov, Kalinin, Voroshilov, Budyonny and other members of the Politburo.

We celebrated the 80th anniversary of the Victory Parade at our Telegram channel “Beorn And the Shieldmaiden”, starting at this post.

From the Telegram post of the Russian Foreign Ministry:

During the preparations for the Parade 12 regiments were created and trained, representing all the Red Army Fronts that took part in the fighting against the Nazi invaders. Each regiment included over 1,000 distinguished & honoured Red Army soldiers and officers, Heroes of the Soviet Union and cavaliers of the Order of Glory.

The ceremony involved in total 298 infantry platoons, 13 cavalry squadrons, and 350 artillery batteries, including 386 guns and 613 armoured vehicles. Commander of the Moscow Military District, Colonel General Pavel Artemyev, was in charge of organising and overseeing the Parade.

The Victory Parade began at 10 am and lasted for two hours. Soviet Union Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky commanded the units, while Marshal Georgy Zhukov reviewed the parade teams. The Parade was in many aspects highly symbolic, even as regards the breeds and colours of the horses rode by the two great Soviet Marshals — Zhukov rode a light grey Tersk horse as a symbol of glory and victory, while Rokossovsky rode a black horse symbolising honour and grace.

After the Marshals reviewed the units and greeted the participants, a military orchestra with 1,400 musicians marched into the centre of Red Square to perform “Glory,” a patriotic song composed by Mikhail Glinka. Georgy Zhukov then ascended the podium on the Lenin Mausoleum to deliver his famous address:

“Mankind has been liberated from German Nazism — humanity’s deadliest enemy.

For three years, the Red Army had to fight against Germany and its satellites on its own. Throughout the entire war, the Nazi army had to keep its main forces on the Soviet-German front — this is where the Reich’s war machine was crushed, and this is where the victorious ending of the war in Europe came from.”

When Marshal Zhukov concluded his remarks, the state orchestra performed the national anthem, and 50 rounds of fireworks were fired from the Kremlin walls. This is when the Red Army columns — over 40’000 soldiers and officers and 1,850 units of armour vehicles and military equipment.

At the end of the celebrations, to the sound of 80 drums beating, a column of Soviet soldiers threw 200 banners of the defeated Nazi Wehrmacht onto the ground near the Mausoleum. These banners had been selected by a special commission from among 900 trophy banners brought from Germany.

The Parade ended at noon to the tune of the Moscow Garrison’s composite brass orchestra. Overall, 24 marshals, 249 generals, 2,536 officers, and 31,116 non-commissioned officers and soldiers took part in the procession. The celebrations culminated with an image of the Order of Victory floating in the sky.

After the June 24, 1945, the Victory Day parades were held in the USSR 3 more times – at the anniversary dates on the May 9, 1965, 1985 and 1990. Next time it was conducted in already Russia on the 9th of May 1995, and then annually after that date. In the USSR military parades were customarily held annually on the 7th of November, commemorating the October Revolution.

While translating Zhukov’s speech, based on the Russian transcript here, we found a disconcerting detail: the B/W documentary was edited to remove any reference to Stalin’s contribution and guidance! It seems the editing was done during the time, when Hrushev waged his personal vendetta against Stalin’s memory. The colour version, though it does not include Zhukov’s speech, has Stalin “rehabilitated” and properly referenced.

‼️ It was only on the 75th anniversary of the Victory, that Georgy Zhukov’s speech could be heard for the first time without redactions — in the two and a half reconstructed video of the Day of the Victory Parade, presented in a separate article.


Backup at Rumble. An older version on YouTube

This film was the first colour film in the USSR, shot on single tape (previously, a three-colour method was used for colour films). The Victory parade on June 24, 1945 was filmed on German trophy film from the warehouse of “Agfa”. After the film was shot, it turned out that most of the tape had colour defects. As the colour films were not made in the USSR, there was not enough experience in working on colour correction. Therefore, the entire film was transferred to B/W film, and a 19-minute film was edited from the material that was of suitable quality. And many years later, in 2004, the Central State Archive of Film and Photo Documents restored the colour version of the film. The film was restored, removing all mechanical damage to the film, restoring the colour and transferring the image to modern colour film.


Backup at Rumble. An older version on YouTube

👉 Source of the B/W is the USSR State Television and Radio Fund via the Russian MFA.

The article was originally published on May 9, 2020 with video uploaded to YouTube Back then, in order to re-upload the film the subtitles, the footage of the B/W film was downloaded from the Classics of the Soviet Cinema YouTube channel. There was one quote in a viewer comment there, which was especially poignant (note that 9 million is the number of combatant losses according to the early estimates after the war, the total number of the Soviet citizens who lost their lives during the Great Patriotic War is 27 million people):

Once my father expressed a piercing and terrible thought: “Ten thousand soldiers and officers of the armies and fronts participated at the principal Parade in honour of the Victory Day on June 24, 1945. The passage of the parade “boxes” of troops lasted thirty minutes. And you know what I thought? During the four years of the war, the losses of our army amounted to almost nine million dead. And each one of them, who gave the most precious thing to Victory – their lives! – is worthy to walk in that parade on the Red Square. So, if all the dead were put in parade formation, then these “boxes” would go through Red Square for nineteen days… ” and I suddenly, as if in reality, imagined this parade. Parade “boxes” of twenty by ten. One hundred and twenty steps a minute. In windings and boots, overcoats, and jackets, in caps, earflaps, “budenovki”, helmets, caps. And for nineteen days and nights this continuous stream of fallen battalions, regiments, and divisions would have passed through the Red Square. Parade of the heroes, parade of the winners. Think about it! Nineteen days!
— V. Shurygin

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