Russian Embassy in South Africa

📆 130 years ago, #OTD in 1894, Pyotr Kapitsa was born, an outstanding Soviet physicist and 1978 Nobel Prize Winner. P.Kapitsa turned to physics thanks to Abram Ioffe, the “father of Soviet physics” who noticed the promising student of the Petrograd Technical Institute and invited him to join his laboratory team. 🎓 In 1921, P.Kapitsa left for England to carry on his studies at the University of Cambridge under Ernest Rutherford. He soon gained acclaim among his colleagues as a talented engineer and experimenter. He stayed in England until 1934 and contributed significantly to international scientific exchange. ⚛️ Upon his return to Russia, in 1935 P.Kapitsa was appointed director of the specially established Institute of Physical Problems in Moscow, where he installed his former equipment from the Mond Laboratory in Cambridge after it was purchased by the Soviet government. 🌟 During World War II, P.Kapitsa became responsible for the entire Soviet industry’s production of liquid oxygen and supervised the construction of large plants based on machines he invented. 👉 In 1978, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics “for his basic inventions and discoveries in the area of low-temperature physics” and was also cited for his long term role as a leader in the development of this area. He shared the prize with Arno Allan Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson of USA. #OutstandingRussians #RussianHistory #SovietHistory

📺 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s address to participants in the Forum of BRICS Sister Cities and Municipalities (July 9, 2024) Read in full 💬 Colleagues, Friends, I am delighted to welcome the organisers and participants of the traditional Forum of BRICS Sister Cities and Municipalities. This year, the forum is being held in the Nizhny Novgorod Region and its capital, Nizhny Novgorod, which are known for their history and hospitality. Today, the region, just like the whole of Russia, is demonstrating its openness to the world and its readiness to develop foreign relations based on the principles of respect, equality and mutual advantage. Russia, which holds #BRICS Chairmanship this year, is working to build up comprehensive strategic partnership within this association. We are paying priority attention to humanitarian cooperation and contacts between people. Interaction between cities and municipalities has a big role to play in these efforts. It has recently been growing in terms of scope and, more importantly, quality. Plans for this year include many relevant events, which will certainly make a substantial contribution to the development of interregional cooperation within BRICS. One such event is the Forum of Sister Cities and Municipalities. Over the past years, it has become an effective platform for developing dialogue between regional and municipal authorities, which has led to the establishment of sister city relations between many of them. The accession of new members to BRICS on January 1, 2024, has considerably increased the potential of this mechanism. It offers new opportunities for exchanging experience on the key aspects of urban life, in particular, urban construction, local self-government and law-making, social protection, security and other essential topics. During this forum, you will discuss vital issues such as enhancing the quality of city life, the economic development of municipalities, modern urban architecture, the digitalisation of urban environment, as well as various aspects of the ecology, education, culture, sport and youth exchanges. The Russian participants have considerable experience they can and will share in all these spheres. A cultural programme is an integral part of this event. I am sure that you will enjoy learning about the region’s history and architecture and the crafts of our country. 🤝 No doubt that your forum will be held in a business-like and friendly atmosphere, which will help you establish useful contacts, discuss promising joint projects, as well as strengthen friendship and trust between our nations. I wish you fruitful discussions and all the best. #BRICS2024

🇷🇺🇮🇳 On July 8, 2024 President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi held an informal meeting at the presidential residence in Novo-Ogaryovo, Moscow Region. 💬 Vladimir Putin: We will hold official talks tomorrow, and today we can discuss the issues on our agenda unofficially, in a quiet and comfortable atmosphere. <...> But first I would like to congratulate you on being re-elected as Prime Minister. I think that there is a good reason for that. It is the result of the many years of your work at the helm of government. You have ideas of your own, you are a very energetic person, you know how to get results to benefit India and its people. And the outcome is obvious: India is the third-largest economy in the world. It is probably the largest country in the world by population, 1.4 billion people. <...> You have devoted your whole life to serving the Indian people, and they are aware of that. #RussiaIndia 🤝 #DruzhbaDosti

🚘 Soviet and Russian motor vehicles in South Africa The Lada Niva, a Soviet-made four-wheel-drive vehicle, first became available in South Africa in 1988. As the anti-apartheid sanctions were in force, the Soviet Union did authorise exports to South Africa. Hundreds of Nivas were imported from Western Europe, without after-market support. Only after South Africa’s transition to democracy authorised imports, supported by nationwide marketing campaigns, began. In the late 1990s, the cars were shipped directly from Russia, with a full range of spares and technical support. The inexpensive and practical all-terrainer was welcomed by car enthusiasts in South Africa. 🚙 The ability to perform over rugged terrain and its affordability made the Lada Niva an excellent choice for South Africans. The economical car had permanent four-wheel-drive, five-speed gearbox with high and low range and a diff lock. For a small recreational vehicl, it had a huge fuel tank. Its 1.7-litre four-cylinder engine delivered 127Nm of torque. The slightly modified Niva, now known as Lada Legend, is still produced in Russia and exported to several countries in Asia and Africa. The car, originally developed for Russia’s rural areas and launched in 1976, was the first mass-produced off-road vehicle with a monocoque structure and a permanent all-wheel-drive system. The Lada took part in the Paris–Dakar Rally and reached the North Pole, the Antarctic and Everest. Nowadays, the Lada Niva/Legend is the world’s longest-running 4x4 still in production in its original form. 🛞 It has also enjoyed enthusiast societies on several continents. The Lada Owners Club of Southern Africa was formed in 2000. It has continued to operate after 2003 when the Lada Niva imports were discontinued. The club’s official Facebook group has nearly four thousand members: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LOCSA/ The materials provided by the Center for Southern Africa Studies of the Institute (https://www.inafran.ru/en/). #pagesofcommonhistory #russia #sovietunion #russiasouthafrica #ussr #humanrightsday #africa

🕊 Humanitarian Action «To the children’s hands» to help children of new regions of Russia. In early April 2022, in collaboration with the Russian Humanitarian Mission, an autonomous non-commercial organization, and other partners, the Russian Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights launched the humanitarian mission "To the Children’s Hands". 👉 Its primary objective is to address specific requests from individual families. Humanitarian convoys are delivering supplies to operational headquarters of the mission in the new regions of Russia, as well as to the Belgorod region. ✅ Currently, there are five operational humanitarian headquarters: in Donetsk, Mariupol, Lugansk, Melitopol, and Genichesk. From these locations, humanitarian aid is distributed to minors in need, families with children, and children’s institutions, even in areas affected by active hostilities. ✅ In 2023, the headquarters received over 3,600 requests from citizens. ✅ In 2024, 460 appeals were submitted, resulting in targeted aid being provided to 1,490 children. 🤝 In total, more than 250 tonnes of aid have been delivered. ❤️ This humanitarian cargo includes medicines, vitamins, specialized food for children with disabilities, wheelchairs, verticalizers, exercise equipment for disabled children, clothing, shoes, bedding, personal hygiene products, stationery, and food. During winter, critical needs were focused on items for warmth, such as blankets, portable heaters, and generators for autonomous power supply. 📖 Read more about humanitarian projects and children's stories in the Bulletin #ChildrensRightsCommissioner #ChildrenRights #HelpingChildren

⚡️⚡️ On July 8, in response to the Kiev regime's attempts to damage objects of Russian power infrastructure and economy, the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation delivered a group strike by long-range precision weaponry at objects of the Ukrainian military-industrial infrastructure and AFU aviation bases. The goal of the strike has been achieved. All the assigned targets have been hit. ❗️ Statements of the Kiev regime about the allegedly deliberate missile strike launched against civilian facilities by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation are false. ☝️ Numerous published photos and footage from Kiev clearly confirm that the destruction was caused by a Ukrainian air defence missile launched by an anti-aircraft missile system deployed in the city. Similar hysterics by the Kiev regime happen for years and every time on the eve of another meeting (summit) of its patrons from the NATO. ‼️ The goal of such provocations is to distract the world’s attention from the Kiev regime's missile attack on civilians in Sevastopol on 23 June 2024, that led to numerous casualties, including among children, as well as to ensure further funding for the Kiev regime and the continuation of the war to the last Ukrainian.

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answer to questions from the Moscow. Kremlin. Putin programme (July 7, 2024) ❓Question: Statements have been made about the shelling of Sevastopol and other Russian regions. It has been said that responsibility for that rests with the US. What does this mean? 💬 Sergey Lavrov: President Vladimir Putin said this clearly when explaining the operation of ATACMS and other long-range systems the US is supplying to Ukraine. It is clear to any technically competent person with understanding of military matters that these missiles cannot be launched without Washington’s involvement in selecting targets and using satellite data for this. It is a fact. The Americans and other NATO countries continue to say that they are not waging a war against Russia. It is a poor work of a bad job, and they are aware of it. As for our reaction, President Putin has said that we will give a response. I am sure that you will see it in the foreseeable future. ❓Question: It has been said that NATO and the EU are preparing for an outcome of the US presidential race that is not to their liking. They intend to give support guarantees to Ukraine proactively, without waiting for the election results. 💬 Sergey Lavrov: That’s what they say. I can’t imagine that those who say this believe what they are saying. But facts is facts, and facts don’t tally with Western assessments. It is already stirring there. But not because we are "doing it". There are people over there who have retained the ability to analyse the situation and to propose realistic approaches to international events. The truth is on our side. History is an objective process, and we are watching it right now. They know very well why all this has happened. When the EU coordinated the beginning of pre-accession talks with Ukraine, Hungary insisted that Kiev must be obliged to act with regard to ethnic minorities in accordance with international conventions. I had a telephone conversation with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto. He confirmed that they had not only insisted on that wording with regard to the Hungarian minority, which they are especially concerned about, of course, but with regard to all ethnic minorities in Ukraine. It will be interesting to see how they prepare for the talks, in particular when it comes to that direct request, which the Poroshenko and Zelensky regimes flagrantly violated.

🇷🇺🇮🇳 At the Novo-Ogaryovo residence of the President of Russia near Moscow, Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a two-day official visit to Russia, hold an informal meeting. The talks will cover prospects for further development of the traditionally friendly Russian-Indian relations, as well as current international and regional issues. #DruzhbaDosti 🤝 #RussiaIndia

⚡️ Briefing by Chief of Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Protection Troops of the Armed Forces of Russia Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov on Ukraine's violation of obligations under Chemical Weapons Convention (July 8, 2024) Key talking points: 💬 The Kiev regime regularly violates the Chemical Weapons Convention. During the special military operation, more than 400 cases of non-lethal toxic chemicals used by the Ukrainian side were registered. • The Ukrainian Armed Forces troops use toxic compounds not only in the course of combat actions, but also to carry out terrorist attacks in liberated territories against a number of Russian political figures. • The existing evidence base proving Ukraine's violating its obligations under the Convention has been submitted to the OPCW's Technical Secretariat, but no response has been forthcoming so far. • Moreover, the Russian Defence Ministry has information about Ukraine's active cooperation with the OPCW's Technical Secretariat, which has ratified an additional agreement on privileges and immunities for technical assistance visits. This agreement will enable Ukraine to use the OPCW for its own benefit, circumventing the existing procedures under the Convention, by imposing on the Organisation its notoriously false conclusions about chemical investigations. • A laboratory with chemical equipment was detected in an industrial zone on the ground floor of the destroyed building in one of the locations near Avdeyevka during engineering reconnaissance. <...> Analysis of the containers showed the presence of sulphuric acid and sodium cyanide suggesting the use of found equipment for the production of toxic substances. • The US is fully in control of the activities of the OPCW. To settle accounts with the 'undesirable' states, Washington has established an attributive mechanism in the OPCW that was used to investigate the use of chemical weapons in Syria. ❗️ According to the available information, the US and Germany, together with Ukraine and the OPCW's Technical Secretariat, are preparing to launch a special mission to investigate the so-called use of chemical weapons in Ukraine, with a view to pressing charges against Russia. One of the so-called 'independent' states is to initiate investigations and plant evidence that Russia used toxic chemicals during the special military operation. Americans have already committed some $400,000 to this end. Read in full

Triumph of Bagration: the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus ✍🏻Joint article by 🇷🇺Ilya Rogachev, Ambassador of Russia to South Africa, and 🇧🇾Igor Bely, Ambassador of Belarus to South Africa (8 July 2024) READ IN FULL 👉 Key points: ⚔ The operation by the Red Army to liberate Soviet Belarus from Nazi occupation was one of the largest in the world’s military history. It was conducted in June-August 1944 and codenamed ‘Bagration,’ after a famous general of Georgian descent in Mikhail Kutuzov’s army, who played an important role in stopping the Napoleonic invasion of Russia in 1812. The offensive involved 2.4 million Soviet soldiers. In fierce fighting, the Red Army completely wiped out 17 divisions and 3 brigades of the Wehrmacht. Over 50 Nazi divisions were halved, with more than 500,000 enemy soldiers killed and wounded in total. ⭐ Operation ‘Bagration’ was commanded by the distinguished Soviet general Konstantin Rokossovsky who proposed his own plan of the operation and convinced Supreme Commander-in-chief Stalin to approve it. The Red Army’s offensive was supported by all-people partisan movement in Belarus that was unparalleled in scale. Over 374,000 partisans and over 70,000 underground fighters struggled against the invaders in the Nazi-occupied territories. 🔹 Apart from struggle against the Nazis, the Red Army and Belarusian partisans had to fight on another front – against openly hostile Polish nationalist underground. They were particularly active in western parts of Belarus and Ukraine, a.k.a. ‘the Eastern Frontier’ – the territories seized by Warsaw in 1921. The Soviet leadership presumed ‘the Eastern Frontier’ belonged to the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples, while Polish nationalists hoped these lands would remain part of Poland after the war. This stance and open animosity towards the USSR led to direct clashes between the Poles and Soviet partisans. ☝🏻 The results of the operation were so significant that they cannot be ignored in any intellectual environment, no matter how hard some Western authors may try to downgrade its significance. The historical truth is that it was the Soviet people who played the key role in defeating Nazism, securing the freedom and independence of many nations across the globe.