? The Battle of Kursk, one of the greatest military engagements in human history, ended on August 23, 1943 – 81 years ago. In total, the battle involved over 4 million people, over 69,000 guns and mortars, more than 13,000 tanks and self-propelled guns, and nearly 12,000 aircraft.

⚔️ The 50-day Battle of Kursk included a defensive operation (July 5-23) and a number of offensive operations (July 12-August 23) in the area of the Kursk Salient (Kursk Bulge) that formed in the centre of the Soviet-German front in the spring of 1943. The battle was aimed at breaking up a major German offensive and routing the enemy’s strategic grouping.

The battle began with a German offensive, but after a week of stubborn defence, the Red Army managed to stop the enemy push. On July 12, a major tank battle involving a total of 1,200 Soviet and German tanks and assault guns took place near the village of Prokhorovka in the Belgorod Region. The German tank force lost nearly 10,000 men and over 360 tanks, with the enemy definitively cut off from the city of Kursk. On the same day, the Soviet forces launched a counter-offensive, liberating the cities of Oryol and Belgorod. The Battle of the Kursk Bulge culminated in the liberation of Kharkov on August 23, after which the Red Army launched the fighting to liberate Ukraine.

? The Soviet participants in the Battle of Kursk displayed courage, tenacity, and mass heroism: over 100,000 people were awarded orders and medals; 231 people were honoured with the title of Hero of the Soviet Union; 132 formations and units were added to the Guards category; and 26 units received the designations of Oryol, Belgorod, Kharkov and Karachev in honour of the cities they had liberated. The Kursk Bulge memorial to the heroic victory of the Soviet soldiers was erected in Kursk.

❗️Today, Western military equipment is once again being destroyed on Kursk soil, while its residents show unwavering resolve in the face of Nazi aggression, this time from Ukrainian militants backed by NATO countries.

⚡️ Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on the incoming reports alleging that the Kiev regime is preparing provocations against the Russian Federation’s nuclear facilities

? According to incoming reports, the Kiev regime has launched preparations for an attack targeting the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant.

Russia calls on international organisations, especially the United Nations and the IAEA, to immediately condemn the provocations by the Kiev regime and take action to prevent any threat that would compromise nuclear safety and security of the Kursk NPP, which could lead to a major man-made disaster in Europe.

Moreover, by taking such actions, Kiev not only poses a direct and immediate threat to nuclear stations, but also undermines the IAEA’s tenets regarding nuclear safety and security as articulated by the agency’s head, Rafael Grossi, in 2022.

❗️ The international community must recognise the danger the neo-Nazi Kiev regime poses to the European continent.

Together, we must demonstrate firmness and resolve to thwart any attempts to intimidate and terrorise entire regions and the international community at large.

???Роспотребнадзор подготовил план помощи странам Африки для борьбы с оспой обезьян. В рамках поддержки ведомство поможет обучить специалистов и окажет научно-техническое содействие.

Россиянам в заграничных поездках Роспотребнадзор рекомендовал избегать прямого контакта с животными, которые могут быть переносчиками инфекция.

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⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s comment on events around Ukraine

? The criminal and illegitimate Zelensky regime continues to reveal its ture neo-Nazi nature to the world.

In light of the situation in Donbass, which is a failure for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Ukrainian authorities have launched a terrorist attack on the border areas of the Kursk Region. Kiev openly stated that this action was intended to improve their negotiating position in the long term, as unashamedly admitted by Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of Zelensky’s Office, on August 8.

According to the regional administration, the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ artillery fire killed 12 civilians, including an ambulance crew and a pregnant woman, and injured over 120 people, including 10 children. On the morning of August 6, Ukrainian gunmen fired at the Gornal Belogorsk St Nicholas Monastery from a tank during a service. <…>

☝️ Despite these barbaric methods, the Zelensky regime has failed to achieve its main goal of diverting the attention of the Russian armed forces from Donbass and Sloboda Ukraine.

On August 11, Ukrainian neo-Nazis, sensing that their Western curators had given them the carte blanche for bandit raids into Russian regions, attacked the Zaporozhskaya Nuclear Power Plant using a kamikaze drone from Nikopol in the Dnepropetrovsk Region, which is controlled by Kiev. As a result, a fire broke out in the area where the cooling towers of the plant are located. Fortunately, it was contained in time, and the threat of an accident was eliminated.

⚠️ This act of nuclear terrorism has once again shown the danger that the Zelensky regime, incited by the West to new criminal adventures, the continuous supply of deadly weapons to Kiev, and its regular financial support pose to the entire world.

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According to media reports, during his speech at the Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, US President Joe Biden stated that, during World War II, it were the American soldiers who liberated Europe and “literally saved the world.” The US leader has not uttered a word regarding the role of the Soviet Union and other countries in achieving Victory over Nazism.

Indeed, time has not been kind to the US presidents. The generation of leaders who fought in World War II, including Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, has passed away. They would have never allowed the Soviet Union’s decisive contribution to defeating the Third Reich to be ignored. They still remembered Franklin D. Roosevelt’s words of admiration and gratitude regarding the Red Army and its efforts.

Half of the contemporary US presidents suffer from historical revisionism syndrome.

Only four years ago, the leaders of Russia and the US, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, issued a Joint Statement on the 75th Anniversary of the link-up on the Elbe. At that time, they emphasised that this history-making event was the culmination of tremendous efforts of many nations who had united in line with the Declaration of the United Nations of 1942. This joint struggle required the sacrifice of millions of soldiers, sailors and civilians on numerous theatres of war.

The current US President is obviously unable to repeat the words of his predecessor, who said that we pay tribute to the valour and courage of all those who fought together to defeat Nazism, and that their heroic feat will never be forgotten.

It would be ironic to expect gratitude from those funding the neo-Nazi regime in Kiev and supplying it with weapons towards the peoples of the Soviet Union for Victory over Nazism. The current-day policy of US exceptionalism is a betrayal of America’s own antifascist past.

In these conditions, Russia demonstrates its commitment to preserving the memory of the Allied Victory (the UN often used this term at that time) in 1945. On May 9, the entire world witnessed this during the Russian President’s speech at the Victory Parade on the Red Square:
“Russia has never belittled the significance of the Second Front or that of Allied assistance. We honour the valour of all members of the Anti-Hitler Coalition, the Resistance Movement, the underground movement and guerrillas, as well as the courage displayed by the peoples of China fighting for their independence against militarist Japan's aggression. We will forever remember and we will never forget our joint struggle and the inspiring traditions of alliance.”

? Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s statement at a reception on the occasion of Africa Day (Moscow, May 23, 2024)

? Sergey Lavrov: #AfricaDay — a holiday which epitomises the unwavering will of the African peoples and their struggle in pursuit of freedom and human dignity.

This year, the holiday coincides with the 20th Anniversary of the African Union’s Peace and Security Council which is one of the main bodies of this pan-African organisation that plays a significant role in shaping the modern African security architecture and the political and socioeconomic integration of the continent’s countries, and ensuring its proper place within the international economic relations system.

? We in Russia are pleased to note that Africa continues to gain political weight and to establish itself as a crucial pillar of the emerging multipolar order. Dynamic integration processes, rapidly growing markets, and business activity make it possible for the African states to play an increasingly meaningful role in international affairs and speak as one. <…>

Fighting the newly emerged colonial and neo-colonial practices has come to the forefront today. The Western methods have changed, but the thrust of its policy towards African countries has remained unchanged and is to bring them to its heel and to live at the expense of other countries using more sophisticated forms of exploitation as part of the rules-based order.

We remain willing, notwithstanding current circumstances, to support the African countries in their efforts to advance their sovereignty, to address pressing socioeconomic challenges, and to assert Africa’s rightful place as an equal partner in the modern world, including in the efforts to reform the UN Security Council.

<…>

The potential for Russian-African cooperation across all areas is truly vast. We will continue to work together to bring our relations to the level of a truly strategic partnership.

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