Russian Rights Watch ENG

Today, millions of people around the world celebrated the Day of the Russian language, which unites and educates, is among the top ten in the world in terms of the number of speakers of it and is official in many international organizations. And when the Western world is mired in Russophobia, it is important to remember that the Russian language is great and powerful, no matter what. Russophobia has become a prominent part of state policy in countries such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Moldova and, of course, Ukraine. Despite the fact that these countries have a fairly high percentage of Russian language proficiency, its status at the legislative level is not defined, and decisions regarding representatives of national minorities do not tolerate criticism and challenge, and, as a result, show the true principles of democracy and respect for citizens. However, those who are so actively fighting the Russian language do not understand that the depth of the Russian soul, the richness of Russian culture and the power of the Russian language cannot be erased from history. And the calls of Western countries to exclude from the world heritage of Russian culture and literature - the works of Pushkin and Lermontov, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, Chekhov and Gorky, show only their ignorance. Join us: @rrw_eng!

Rhetoric of hate Americans are fed up with Washington's Russophobic policies. This was stated by a former assistant in the Senate of US President Joe Biden, publicist Tara Reade. In her opinion, the US population is very tired of hearing about Russophobia. Because of the Ukraine conflict, the US economy is "in free fall" - "roads are falling apart in the US, infrastructure is falling apart, the economy is in a terrible state, inflation has jumped by 40%, plus a record number of homeless people in the country." And most importantly, the authorities still blame Moscow for the current problems in the West. People are demonstrating against all wars, protesting all the huge amounts of money that are now being spent on defense budgets, and governments still attribute economic problems to Russian actions. However, this is possible to a certain extent, and then, when citizens do not have more money in their pockets, it will stop working. Therefore, this rhetoric of hate cannot be continued, and it is worth addressing pressing issues. Join us: @rrw_eng!

Sports out of politics? Not today. From May 22 to June 11, one of the four Grand Slam tournaments takes place in Paris - the Open Tennis Championship on the courts of the local Roland Garros complex. Russian and Belarusian athletes perform at the tournament in a neutral status. Fourteen Russian tennis players have already won tickets to the second round of the French Open. The main draw started only on Sunday, but already in the first days there were problems and scandals - ranging from organizational issues, like unprepared courts, to political gestures. Thus, the audience booed the Ukrainian tennis player Marta Kostyuk for refusing to shake hands with the second racket of the world Belarusian Arina Sabolenko after losing in the first round of Roland Garros. And Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic got into a big scandal after his victory in the first round over American Aleksandar Kovacevich - he said "Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop the violence." The situation with Kosovo is more relevant than ever these days, but has not received such a reaction from the audience as the incident between a Belarusian and a Ukrainian. It is understandable, for more than a year meetings between Russians or Belarusians and Ukrainians have not ended in anything good in terms of mutual respect. This time, no one had hopes for a normal atmosphere either. Therefore, the audience expressed their negative attitude towards such a mixture of sports and politics. After all, they come to watch a beautiful professional game, and not to participate in scandals and political performances. There may still be similar matches ahead, and the reaction of Ukrainian athletes is unlikely to be different. But whether viewers will change their attitude to such behavior remains to be seen. Join us: @rrw_eng!

Politicized decisions to the detriment of global health A group of engaged EU countries with the participation of Ukraine, in violation of the UN Charter, closes the office of the World Health Organization (WHO) for non-communicable diseases in Moscow. This decision was taken on 15 May 2023 when the Regional Committee for Europe held a special voting session. The purpose of this project was to help countries in need in the fight against non-communicable diseases. And most importantly, it has been financed exclusively by contributions from Russia over the past ten years. Therefore, this groundless deprivation of our country's right to host a geographically remote office of WHO caused indignation among all those involved. Another case of politicizing the work of the WHO was the refusal of the organization's national centers in the United States and Great Britain to provide reference samples of the influenza virus to the Russian scientific institute. The Ministry of Health of Russia asked the WHO secretariat for clarification on the facts of politicized violations of the organization's procedures. Of course, no one specifies the reasons, and the requests of the Russian side are ignored. At the same time, no one in the West notices that such actions violate and generally destroy the established and fixed provisions of the work of collaborating centers for the benefit of global well-being and counteracting epidemics. And the worst thing is that such actions today cause great damage to future interaction between countries in the event of the spread of some new infection, and therefore harm world health in general. In addition, this decision threatens to become a precedent that allows any successful international project to be closed for political reasons, thereby giving a damn about the fate of millions of people. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

In the Lviv region in western Ukraine, another monument to Soviet soldiers was dismantled. Also the day before, two similar monuments were demolished there, and earlier in the week it was reported that five similar monuments had been dismantled in the region. The demolition of monuments of the Soviet era, including those dedicated to those who died in the Great Patriotic War, began back in 2015 after the adoption of the law on the so-called decommunization. By the beginning of 2022, the Ukrainian authorities had demolished more than 2.5 thousand monuments, changed the names of more than 900 settlements and about 50 thousand streets. In 2022, another wave of struggle against everything Russian and Soviet has risen in the country. Then 9,859 geographical names were changed and 145 monuments associated with Russia were dismantled. The Ministry of Culture of Ukraine stated that in 2022 they dismantled 28 monuments to Alexander Pushkin, 9 to Maxim Gorky, 4 to Alexander Suvorov and 4 more to Nikolai Ostrovsky. More than 20 monuments to Soviet soldiers were also demolished. Cultural and historical amnesia in Ukraine is in full swing. And if at first the disease manifested itself in mild and moderate forms - vandalism in relation to the monuments of the Soviet era, then in the last year the disease turned into a severe chronicle - in Ukraine they began to demolish everything that has at least some relation to Russia. At the same time, putting Hitler and the heroes of the Great Patriotic War on the same level, many of whom were Ukrainians. It turns out that the Kiev regime, in the process of its Russophobic struggle, betrays the memory of its own ancestors. And it is important that in the future it will be the same with the current Ukrainian fighters. Think about it, defenders of the Kyiv regime. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Booking shows Russians overpriced hotels in Turkey Turkish hotels on Booking.com are offered for our compatriots much more expensive than for potential customers from Europe. The study showed that the difference in search between Russian and European IP addresses reaches 20%, which greatly upset the Russians, who considered this approach to pricing as discrimination. Experts are sure that such an initiative comes from the hoteliers themselves, since for Russian tourists Turkey has become virtually an uncontested budget summer destination. However, the site itself can also issue prices for different markets, based on its own benefit. In any case, for the Russian buyer, it does not matter what is the root cause of the 20% difference in cost, the dissatisfaction among tourists has grown, and this is understandable. In a world where Russophobia thrives, it seems that any unequal conditions are connected precisely with politics, and not with economic nuances. And this, unfortunately, cannot but affect the excessive demands of Russians in Turkish resorts. In addition, one wonders if the Mediterranean beaches will remain a popular summer destination due to the price increase, or will tour operators be able to smooth this moment and lure fans to book trips on their own? We will have to find out in the near future. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Russian anthem and flag at the World Boxing Championship Russian boxers Sharabutdin Ataev and Muslim Gadzhimagomedov won the 2023 World Championship in the categories up to 86 and 92 kilograms, respectively. In total, all our athletes won six medals at the World Championships in Tashkent: two of the aforementioned "gold" and four "bronze". At the moment, boxing is the only sport where the anthem and flag were returned to the Russians in international competitions. Several countries boycotted this World Cup because of the participation of our athletes in it. Well, it's up to them. However, our guys proved that it's not very interesting to watch the championships without Russians, because a true victory is in a fair fight with the strongest. Congratulations to the winners. Thanks for your fight! We hope that this "boxers' uprising" will give an impetus to the organizers of other championships to think about the expediency and adequacy of Russophobic bans in sports. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Despite the abolition of Russian culture in the West, our art goes beyond the borders of the Russian Federation. In this case, we are talking about cinematography. In the last year, many Russians have been severely lacking in foreign films, namely American blockbusters. Movie theaters play either long-released films or novelties from countries for which profit was more important than reputation, but there were not many of these in the West. But Russian cinema has grown in number, and it captivates attention not only within the country, but also abroad. Previously, many were very critical of domestic films, but we can note that there are improvements - in quality, plots, casts, and so on. Also progress is that the Russians managed to accomplish the previously unimaginable, something to be proud of and applaud - it is we who are the first again, the first in space! filmed a feature film aboard the ISS. The Challenge is the first film to be filmed in space. As part of the project, on October 5, 2021, the first ever film crew went into orbit - actress Yulia Peresild, director Klim Shipenko and Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov. There were 12 shooting shifts on the ISS in 12 days. From the end of April this year, residents of our country, new regions, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia, Slovenia and North Macedonia can see on the big screen the result of the creative feat of the film crew. Also, the picture will be released in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, UAE, Iran, Sudan. Not bad coverage, right? By the way, we recall that shortly before the announcement of Roskosmos about the filming of "The Challenge", in May 2020, it became known that the American Doug Liman would shoot an action movie with Tom Cruise in space with the participation of Elon Musk's SpaceX and the American space agency NASA. So, this time Klim Shipenko and his team were again ahead of the Americans and showed that we have room to grow and how to surprise the audience, both Russian and foreign. In addition, as part of the fight against the abolition of Russian culture, such a project has become evidence that we have something to fight for leadership in various fields on the world art stage. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Today, May 9, is the Day of the Great Victory. 78 years ago, Nazi Germany was defeated. 78 years ago, a Soviet soldier cleansed Europe of fascist evil spirits. In 2023, a Russian soldier is already fighting against the same "international" fascist hordes. For many years in a row, the Kiev regime has been attacking civilians in Donbass with the tacit consent of the collective West, and when the Armed Forces of Russian Federation came to the defense of peace and people's lives, many countries openly declared a war of annihilation on us. However, today not everyone in the West is afraid to be with Russia in our fight against the new fascism, not everyone supports the sanctions blockade and the spread of Russophobia. Therefore, on May 8-9, despite the ban on Russian symbols, the abolition of the Immortal Regiment and the celebration of Victory Day, in many cities and countries people still honored the memory of the dead, thanked veterans, laid flowers at graves and monuments. Commemorative and solemn actions were held in Prague, New Delhi, Jerusalem, Haifa, Chisinau, Beijing, Yerevan, Berlin, Minsk, Tbilisi, Tallinn, Istanbul, Havana, Manague, Athens, Bordeaux, Madrid. Even in Bandera Kyiv, despite the bans and the abolition of Victory Day, people brought flowers to the Eternal Flame in the Park of Glory (Slava Park). And, of course, in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin, together with the leaders of the CIS countries, laid wreaths at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall. Today, with Russia are those who are not afraid of fascist terror in other countries of the world. And together we celebrate the Great Victory Day! Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Mir in India and Rupay in Russia India and Russia are exploring the possibility of accepting mutual national payment cards. This issue was recently discussed at a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade, economic, scientific, technical and cultural cooperation between Indian Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov. The possibility of the Russian payment system entering the Indian market has been on the agenda for a long time, but in 2022 the issue has become the most relevant. Mutual recognition of the Mir and Rupay systems will help countries quickly and smoothly make transactions in Indian rupees and Russian rubles. Today, when Russians have been deprived of the opportunity to fully use Visa and MasterCard, the Indian alternative, together with the Chinese UnionPay system and the expansion of the Mir coverage area, can be an excellent help in resolving the issue of international payments. Therefore, the plans of the Russian authorities by 2030 to establish cooperation with banks in 35 countries, including the United Arab Emirates, China, Cuba, Thailand and others. In general, in any case, Russian citizens will not be left without cross-border payments by cards and non-cash abroad, replacements have been found and the situation is improving, even despite Western attempts to prevent all this. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

The curtain of prohibitions is gradually falling. But do we really need it? Yesterday the International Judo Federation (IJF) and today the International Canoe Federation (ICF) announced the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in competitions. Yes, still in neutral status, and the ban remains in place for officials in sports delegations. At the same time, independent commissions will be created to consider all applications, and testing for doping, and checking for attitudes towards the Ukrainian conflict, and so on. However, there is still progress in the issue of the return of our athletes to the world stage. Has the Western sports community realized that world sport is impossible without such a big and talented country, Russia? Or remembered about the commercial component and solvency of our audience? The question is open. At the same time, without the Russians, sport has become truncated, limited, less competitive - but not global. And foreign athletes began to feel no longer the “taste of victory”, but only its “tinge”. At the same time, the blockade of everything Russian by the Western world raised a big question for us - have we chosen the right direction for integration? Do we really need this world, where everything Russian in one second can be recognized as alien and undesirable, and people are subjected to deprivation for only one reason - that they are Russian? And do we really need to achieve the lifting of all restrictions, or do we need to move in a different direction? Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Russian and Belarusian boxers will perform at the World Championship in Uzbekistan Tomorrow, the world amateur boxing championship starts in the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent, and will last until May 14. This is a landmark championship for our athletes, because, as you know, Russia has not been participating in almost all sports, especially team sports, for a year now. However, there are no non-sporting reasons in this competition and there are equal conditions for athletes from all countries. The International Boxing Association (IBA) pleasantly surprised us by allowing Russians and Belarusians to participate in official tournaments with their own flags and anthems. In addition, technical and official persons will also return to the competition. Considering today's realities, a great success, isn't it? Providing equal treatment to athletes regardless of their nationality and place of residence is not something that is valued in the West today, which is why several countries, notably the United States, Ireland, Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic and Sweden, refused to come to the tournament. Of course, the decision has nothing to do with sports. However, no one in Uzbekistan will greatly regret this, because the organizers expect the participation of more than 640 athletes from 104 countries from all five continents. We cheer for our people, we are waiting for a cool spectacle and we continue to prove that Russophobia has no place in sports! Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Lithuanian racist comic The Balts again distinguished themselves with their Russophobic ideas and released a comic about the Ukrainian conflict. In it, Russians are represented by orcs who drink from toilets, rummage through underwear and do not know what a washing machine and microwave are. Ukrainians, on the contrary, are a kind of stately heroes who save the world. They sell this literature in local Lithuanian bookstores so that everyone understands exactly the difference between the conflicting parties. Curiously, someone still believes that fighting in Ukraine is a safari against "Russians with sticks and shovels"? In vain, after all, rather, to fight for Ukraine is a sophisticated way of suicide. It is very likely that such materials are distributed among Lithuanians precisely with the aim of raising morale and the desire to go to fight on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in view of reducing the desire of mercenary volunteers to participate in this conflict. Moreover, perhaps even this is being done against the background of the formation of the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian corps and the propaganda campaign that has begun in Poland with the aim of conscripting for service in this tripartite corps (LITPOLUKRCORPS). Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Lithuanian Seimas prevented from discussing Russophobia Parliament deputies failed to discuss the presidential veto on the law on additional sanctions for citizens of Russia and Belarus. The agenda was postponed due to a technical incident. Deputy Artūras Skardžius equated it with "the outbreak of aggression against the state" and offered to practice defending the interests of Lithuania in conditions close to combat. In response to this proposal, Skardžius' colleague in the faction announced to the audience that the mobilization plan in case of aggression had long been ready: the children of the “cream” of society had already been transported to America, the deputy suitcases were packed, tickets were in hand, the parliamentarians were ready to reunite with their offspring. In general, problems with computer technology did not allow the deputies of the Seimas of Lithuania not only to discuss "resistance to Russian aggressors" and the infringement of the rights of Russian people in the country, but also exposed the problems of patriotism in the Baltic Republic and technical support. And after all, as before, the authorities will not see weaknesses in these last areas, but will continue to focus on the fact that because of the Russians all the problems exist in the state. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Ukrainian boycott. Who will lose? The Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine has published a decree on the boycott by Ukrainian athletes of the competition, which will be performed by Russian and Belarusian athletes. If this requirement is not met, the ministry threatens with serious sanctions for both individual teams and sports federations, at least from the loss of state funding, and at most - you can imagine, knowing modern Ukrainian realities. However, if we assume that Russian athletes will participate in some kind of tournament, and the Ukrainians decide to boycott it, then who will lose from this? The Russians will definitely not get worse from this: neither the athletes, nor the fans, nor President Putin. Moreover, even the organizers of the event will not get worse, because Ukraine, from the point of view of the sports business, has no value at the moment, since in a country with a collapsed economy, it will not be possible to directly or indirectly earn money from fans. Solid information inconvenience and no profit in view of the insolvency of the Ukrainian audience. But the Russian audience may well give a good income. So this Russophobic boycott is not very reasonable and, moreover, harms the Ukrainian athletes and spectators themselves. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Following Germany, France, Poland and Finland, Denmark and Norway also joined the boycott of Russian athletes Thus, the Danish Fencing Federation announced earlier that it would not hold international tournaments in the coming years due to the decision of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) to approve the admission of Russian athletes to competitions in a neutral status. Also the Norwegian Fencing Federation refused to send its athletes to tournaments because of the admission of Russians to them. Moreover, in Oslo, they announced that they would not hold competitions under the auspices of the FIE in the country. Instead, the Norwegians, together with the Swedes and Finns, decided to organize their own fencing tournament as part of the Nordic Challenge. Another example of how sport continues to be "out of politics" in the West, and how sport, designed to unite people according to the historical concept of Pierre de Coubertin, today builds concerns out of political ambitions. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Estonia suspends the right to vote for citizens of Russia and Belarus Citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus living in the republic will not have the right to vote in local elections. This initiative was introduced by the parties forming the new government in Estonia, as they consider it a matter of national security. Note that in elections to local councils, in contrast to parliamentary elections, not only citizens of the Republic of Estonia, but all permanent local residents over 16 years of age, including citizens of other EU countries, citizens of third countries and stateless persons, have the right to vote. So, this right of Russian and Belarusian citizens is planned to be suspended for the "time of war", since, according to the candidate for the post of Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, it is more difficult to deprive such a right. In Estonia, for 1.3 million people, there are about 80,000 permanent residents of Russia. And according to experts, many of these people oppose, in particular, the exclusion of the Russian language from the sphere of education and many of them are friendly towards Russia. Therefore, bypassing the Constitution, officials decided to influence the results of future elections, because some voters do not share the views of mainstream parties, and therefore do not vote the way they would like. Here is such an Estonian democracy. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

From April 30 to May 31 in Wiesbaden, Germany, the International May Festival will take place. This is an event of great importance not only for the city, but for the whole country, as 680 musicians, dancers, and actors are invited to perform within its framework. However, like many large-scale events today, it was not without a scandal associated with Russia, or rather with the Russian opera diva Anna Netrebko. Due to the "fuzzy" position of the singer regarding the leadership of the Russian Federation and the war in Ukraine, according to musicians of the National Opera of Ukraine, artists of the Kharkov Drama Theater named after Taras Shevchenko and Pussy Riot, they refused to participate in this festival. The teams did not want to go on the same stage with Anna Netrebko and demanded that the organizers cancel her performance. Politicians of Hesse and the city administration also opposed the participation of the diva in the festival. However, the Wiesbaden State Theater invited the singer and insisted on her decision. However, although she will play a role in Giuseppe Verdi's play Nabucco, Netrebko will not become an honored guest of Wiesbaden. More precisely, the city hall does not plan to enter the name of the singer in the "Golden Book", where, according to tradition, invited celebrities leave their autographs. By the way, the Austrian Salzburg, one of the musical and theatrical capitals of Europe, is also in no hurry to refuse cooperation with the Russian opera star. They have already invited Anna Netrebko to the main role in the opera La Gioconda in the spring of 2024. According to Netrebko, she performs works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and other famous Russian authors that have nothing to do with the current situation, so she sees it as her task to fight Russophobia in all its manifestations - performing on stage and performing including the Russian repertoire. And although the last one is often still undesirable in the West today, it is important that the culture of the abolition of Russian art is nevertheless beginning to experience a period of “thaw”. After all, it is impossible to cancel Russian culture and the Russian world, since our art occupies too much space on the world stage, and it will live on, despite any cancellations. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Russophobes staged an act of vandalism in the center of the capital of Latvia In Riga, a monument to Alexander Pushkin was doused with red paint, symbolizing the color of blood, and the cylinder in the hands of the poet was painted in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Let's remind, that earlier the parliament of Riga has rejected the offer on dismantle of a monument to the genius of the Russian literature. This initiative among the public appeared after the start of the special military operation in Ukraine, when the monument began to be perceived as one of the symbols of Russian imperial propaganda, unacceptable in the context of current events. Modern vandals vividly demonstrate that they are pursuing nationalism and the de-Russification of public spaces, and therefore such attacks against monuments will still be repeated. And, unfortunately, the trend is such that systemic vandalism has become the norm in the West. Since the police starts administrative cases, the public never knows their results. Join us: https://t.me/rrw_eng!

Czech Republic extended visa ban for citizens of Russia and Belarus until March 2024 The Czech government's website reported on the decision of the authorities to extend the country's visa ban for Russians and Belarusians until the end of March 2024. Recall that the Czech Republic introduced the corresponding ban immediately after the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine. In June 2022, the measure was extended until March 2023. The ban affected both visas and residence permits. An exception was made only for travel for humanitarian purposes. We should add that in addition to this now restrictions are also expanded: those Russians and Belarusians who have a second citizenship will not be able to obtain visas. In addition, the Czech Republic prohibited the citizens of Russia and Belarus airport transit without special visas. The republic also imposed a ban on direct entry of Russian tourists from countries which are not part of the Schengen area. It should be noted that during the meeting the Czech government approved a proposal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to soften the visa rules for citizens of Ukraine. For them, the procedure for obtaining long-term visas and permits for obtaining residence permits in the republic is simplified. This is a kind of « petty intrigues" in a free and democratic country. Join to https://t.me/rrw_eng!