Russian Embassy in Australia

12 January 2026 23:58

⚡️According to information confirmed by several independent sources, a strike launched by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation on the night of 9 January using the Oreshnik mobile ground-based missile system disabled the Lvov State Aviation Repair Plant.

▫️ At the plant, aircraft of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including F-16 and MiG-29 aircraft supplied by the Western countries, were repaired and maintained. The plant also produced long-range and medium-range attack UAVs used to hit Russian civilian facilities in the depth of Russian territory.

▫️ The Oreshnik system engaged production workshops, warehouses with products (UAVs), as well as the infrastructure of the factory airfield.

▫️ In addition, as part of this massive attack with the use of the Iskander missile system and the Kalibr sea-based cruise missiles, the production facilities of two enterprises in Kiev involved in assembling strike UAVs for attacks against the territory of Russia, as well as energy infrastructure facilities that support the work of the Ukrainian defence industry, were hit.

🔹 Russian Defence Ministry

Russian Embassy in Australia

12 January 2026 06:00

🎙 Comment by Russia's Foreign Ministry Official Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the Kiev regime’s terrorist attack on civilians in Russian regions (January 11, 2026)

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The Kiev regime has once again demonstrated its inhumane Nazi nature with another brutal crime.

On January 10, the Voronezh, Kursk, Bryansk, and Belgorod regions were subjected to a mass attack using fixed-wing drones. According to the Russia's Ministry of Defence, a total of 33 hostile drones were launched.

The principal target was the residential areas of Voronezh. One young woman has been confirmed dead, having succumbed to her injuries in intensive care overnight. At least three further civilians were wounded.

The Foreign Ministry strongly condemns these acts of terrorism. They are characterised by the extremely cynical targeting of a wide range of civilian infrastructure. This includes over ten blocks of flats and an equal number of private homes. A secondary school and several administrative buildings were also struck and damaged.

Such deliberate killings of civilians attest to the desperation of the Kiev regime, which – in the face of its obvious failures on the battlefield – now seeks to vent its frustration on innocent populations of Russia’s regions. All masterminds and perpetrators of this and other crimes will be inevitably held to account.

It is our hope that the relevant international bodies will provide an impartial assessment of these criminal acts committed by Ukrainian neo-Nazis. Continued silence in the face of the Kiev regime’s unbridled barbarity renders those bodies complicit in its heinous consequences.

Russian Embassy in Australia

10 January 2026 22:14

#Outcomes2025

🎙 On January 20, 2026, a news conference by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will be held at the Foreign Ministry Press Centre. The event will present an overview of the results of Russian diplomacy in 2025. The conference will begin at 11 am MSK.

Russian and foreign journalists are invited to attend. Accreditation is open until 12 pm on January 15 (details).

🔴 The press conference will be broadcast online on the Russian Foreign Ministry website in the Video section in Russian with English, French and Spanish translation, as well as on the Ministry’s social network accounts.

Russian Embassy in Australia

09 January 2026 14:57

⚡️Last night, in response to the terrorist attack by the Kiev regime on the residence of the President of the Russian Federation in Novgorod region, launched on the night of 29 December 2025, the Russian Armed Forces launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range ground- and sea-based weapons including the Oreshnik mobile ground-based medium-range missile system as well as attack unmanned aerial vehicles at critically important facilities on the territory of Ukraine.

✅ All the assigned targets have been hit. Production facilities of unmanned aerial vehicles that were used during the terrorist attack as well as power infrastructure enterprises that supported the defence industry of Ukraine have been damaged.

❗️ Any terrorist actions by the criminal Ukrainian regime will not remain unanswered in the future.

🔹 Russian Defence Ministry

Russian Embassy in Australia

08 January 2026 13:20

⚡️ Comment by Foreign Ministry Official Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on certain Western countries’ plans to continue the militarisation of Ukraine (January 8, 2026)

💬 Maria Zakharova: On January 6 in Paris, participants of the so-called Coalition of the Willing, led by the UK and France, signed a declaration titled Robust Security Guarantees for a Solid and Lasting Peace in Ukraine.

The document turned out to be extremely far from a peace settlement. The declaration is not aimed at achieving a lasting peace and security but rather at continuing the militarisation, escalation and further conflict aggravation.

Its core element is the deployment of “a multinational force” on Ukrainian territory that the coalition will have to form to contribute to the “rebuilding” of the Ukrainian armed forces and “support deterrence” [against Russia] following the cessation of the hostilities.

The document also includes clauses on further consolidation of Ukraine’s and NATO’s military industrial sectors.

As clarified by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, who signed the corresponding trilateral statement along with Zelensky, London and Paris plan to establish their own military bases in Ukraine post-ceasefire and build weapon and military equipment storage facilities.

⚠️ The Russian Foreign Ministry warns that the deployment of military units and the setting-up of military facilities, storages and other Western infrastructure on Ukrainian territory will be qualified as foreign intervention that directly threatens the security of Russia and other European countries.

All such units and facilities will be considered as legitimate military targets for the Russian Armed Forces.

Warnings to this effect have been repeatedly made at the highest level and remain relevant.

❗️ We also reaffirm that a peaceful resolution of the conflict is solely possible through the elimination of its root causes, the re-establishment of Ukraine’s neutral non-aligned status, its demilitarisation and denazification, and Kiev’s observance of the language, cultural and religious rights and freedoms, including those of ethnic Russians, Russian-speaking people, and members of ethnic minorities, and through the recognition of the current territorial realities that emerged as a result of the peoples’ exercised right to self-determination.

All these goals will, undoubtedly, be achieved either by political and diplomatic means or in the course of the special military operation, in which the Russian Armed Forces are maintaining full initiative on the battlefield.

The new militarist declarations of the so-called Coalition of the Willing and the Kiev regime are forming a true Axis of war.

Its participants’ plans are becoming increasingly more dangerous and destructive for the future of the European continent and its residents, who are also forced by Western politicians to pay for such ambitions out of their own pockets.

Russian Embassy in Australia

07 January 2026 05:10

⚡️ Foreign Ministry statement concerning the developments around Venezuela

On January 5, Executive Vice President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez was sworn in and assumed the office of President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela at the National Assembly in accordance with the ruling by the Constitutional Chamber of the country’s Supreme Court.

This step shows the determination of the Bolivarian Government to assure unity and preserve the power vertical created in compliance with the national legislation, mitigate the risks of a constitutional crisis and create the necessary conditions for further peaceful and stable development of Venezuela in the face of outrageous neo-colonial threats and external armed aggression.

We welcome the efforts taken by the country’s authorities to protect the state sovereignty and national interests.

🤝 We reaffirm Russia unwavering solidarity with the Venezuelan people and Government. We wish authorised President of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez success in resolving the tasks facing the Bolivarian Republic.

On our part, we express readiness to continue rendering necessary support to friendly Venezuela.

We firmly insist that Venezuela should have the guaranteed right to determine its destiny on its own, without any destructive interference from the outside.

We consistently stand for de-escalating the current situation and resolving any existing problems through a constructive dialogue and respect for international law, primarily the UN Charter. Latin America and the Caribbean must remain a zone of peace.

❗️ The countries in the region must be guaranteed sovereign development.

Russian Embassy in Australia

04 January 2026 23:14

🌟 In early January 1942, the Kerch-Feodosia amphibious landing operation by the Red Army (December 26, 1941 — January 2, 1942) concluded — the offensive when the legendary #KoktebelLanding — a daring operation by a reconnaissance unit of the Red Navy seamen in the Koktebel Bay, where they engaged in a heavy uphill combat with the Nazi garrison — was carried out.

Fearless seamen, who were tasked with an important strategic mission, which consisted of engaging the German garrison in combat to distract it from Feodosia, performed deceptive tactical manoeuvre hampering a huge number of the German troops along the Koktebel shore at the time when the main Red Army forces attacked on the Kerch peninsula.

Despite the enemy’s superiority in manpower and equipment, the Koktebel landing was carried out successfully, with the main mission being completed.

Soviet Red Nave seamen showed unparalleled courage and heroism: under harsh and fierce weather conditions (a five-category storm and a -20°C frost), engaging combat being waist-deep in the icy water, the seamen were fighting to death, selflessly assisting their comrades to defend Crimea against the Nazi invaders.

Thanks to the heroic feat of Soviet seamen in Koktebel, the Red Army was given the opportunity to reach Feodosia on land and firmly entrench on the Kerch bridgehead. On January 5, a group of Red Army soldiers landed in Yevpatoria, having driven the Romanian invaders out of the city.

🎖 The success of the Koktebel landing turned the tide in the Battle of Sevastopol — the Nazis hastened to redeploy some of their divisions to Kerch so as to deter the Red Army attacking. Thus, the defenders of Sevastopol gained the necessary time: the city garrison could regroup the forces and throw all their strength to fend off the enemy.

***

The Koktebel landing
December 1941

On the night of December 28-29, 1941, during the Kerch offensive, a reconnaissance unit of 29 volunteering Red Navy seamen reached the Koktebel Bay on board of the D-5 'Spartakovets' submarine. Once arrived at the destination of the mission, the unit received an order — to land ashore and launch an assault on the Nazi-occupied Koktebel village, while the main Red Army ground forces were reaching Feodosia.

In the early morning of December 29, at 3:30 a.m., the Soviet seamen launched the attack. Despite dense machinegun fire and enemy mines, the unit broke through the sheer hell — the seamen reached the shore and engaged in combat with the German and Romanian troops. Our seamen's surprise attack tied down the enemy garrison in Koktebel for several days until the main Red Army forces approached.

By January 1, the Red Army assault group, which successfully landed in Feodosia, finally reached Koktebel and joined their comrades — the heroic seamen who were selflessly fighting till the end. Together they crushed the enemy and further continued liberation of Crimea.

The heroic Victory in Koktebel was achieved at a high cost: according to various estimates, only 10 out of the 29 seamen survived.

***

In 1975, marking the 35th Anniversary of the Great Victory, in Koktebel (Republic of Crimea) a monument to the Heroic 29 Red Navy seamen was unveiled. The memorial stone bears the inscription:

To the soldiers who participated in the landing and died for the Crimean land during the Great Patriotic War.

Russian Embassy in Australia

03 January 2026 11:47

⚡️ Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation regarding the armed aggression by the United States against Venezuela

This morning, the US committed an act of armed aggression against Venezuela. This development gives rise to deep concern and warrants condemnation.

The pretexts used to justify these actions are untenable. Ideologized animosity has prevailed over pragmatic engagement, as well as over any readiness to build relations based on trust and predictability.

In the current situation, it is essential above all to prevent further escalation and to focus on finding a solution through dialogue. We proceed from the understanding that all parties that may have grievances against one another must seek solutions through dialogue-based mechanisms. We stand ready to support such efforts.

Latin America must remain a zone of peace, as it proclaimed itself in 2014. Venezuela must be guaranteed the right to determine its own destiny, free from any destructive – let alone military – external interference.

We reaffirm our solidarity with the Venezuelan people and our support for the course pursued by its Bolivarian leadership, aimed at safeguarding the country’s national interests and sovereignty.

We support the statements by the Venezuelan authorities and by the leaders of Latin American countries calling for the urgent convening of a meeting of the UN Security Council.

Russia's Embassy in Caracas is operating as normal, taking into account the situation on the ground, and maintains constant contact with the Venezuelan authorities as well as with Russian nationals present in Venezuela.

At present, there is no information indicating that any citizens of the Russian Federation have been injured.

Russian Embassy in Australia

03 January 2026 05:03

⚡️ The information about the alleged attack by the Russian Armed Forces on Kharkov on 2 January is not true.

❗️ The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation neither planned nor launched attacks using missile weapons or aircraft weapons within the city of Kharkov.

▫️ Based on eyewitness-made videos published by Ukrainian information resources, the epicenter of the explosion was located in the Persona shopping center at 2, Olesya Gonchara Street.

▫️ On the published footage, heavy smoke of unknown origin was recorded in the building a few seconds before the explosion, which indicates that there was a high probability of detonation of the ammunition stored there by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

▫️ The statements of the Kiev regime about the alleged 'Russian strike on Kharkov' are intended to distract the attention of the international community from the violent terrorist attack committed by the AFU on the night of 1 January against civilians in the settelment of Khorly (Kherson region).

🔹 Russian Defence Ministry

Russian Embassy in Australia

01 January 2026 21:47

#KievRegimeCrimes

⚡️ Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova:

Bankovaya Street threw "a New Year party" last night: the Armed Forces of Ukraine attacked a cafe in the Kherson Region killing 24 people and injuring more than 50; five children were hospitalised.

This is similar to how collaborators from Western Ukraine burned people in the village of Khatyn, Belarus. They drove people into barns and set them on fire. And those who tried to escape were shot. The difference is that back then, more than 82 years ago, the Nazis did not use protection of children and devotion to democracy as a cover. They simply burned people and finished them off with gun-butts, buried them alive and bayoneted those who did not suffocate.

Today we see this beastly pattern copycatted by the Kiev regime: the same neo-Nazi hatred, the same dehumanisation at an exponential rate, the same desecration of the sacrosanct.

Today, presidents and prime ministers of the countries of the collective West should be served for breakfast, along with croissants and poached eggs, reports on how billions of dollars and euros of their taxpayers were spent, how many New Year’s gifts were bought with these funds to kill civilians, how they participated in the murder of children.

We blame this on everyone who sponsors terrorist bastards in Ukraine! We blame them for killing children and destroying civilians! We blame them for corrupting the Ukrainian statehood, which turned into a killing machine!

We accuse!

👉 Details of the terrorist attack

Russian Embassy in Australia

01 January 2026 09:49

РФ сделает всё необходимое для поддержки тех, чьи близкие погибли или пострадали в результате ночной атаки на кафе и гостиницу в Херсонской области.

Об этом заявила Валентина Матвиенко:

«Мы имеем дело с абсолютным нравственным уродством. С созданиями, органически лишёнными связи с внутренним нравственным законом, которым наделил Господь человека».

Russian Embassy in Australia

01 January 2026 09:47

'This is how collaborators from Western Ukraine burned people to death' — FM Spox Zakharova on Kiev's deadly attack on Kherson region civilians

Accuses West of 'corrupting Ukrainian statehood, which has turned into a killing machine'

Russian Embassy in Australia

01 January 2026 09:42

❗️ 24 people including a child were killed in a Ukrainian drone attack during New Year's celebrations in the Kherson region.

Three UAVs struck a cafe and a hotel crowded with civilians, injuring over 50 others. It is reported that one of the drones was loaded with an incendiary mixture.

The true nature of the neo-Nazi Kiev regime is plain to see. This heinous crime is yet another grim confirmation of the necessity of the special military operation conducted by Russia. All its goals will be achieved.

Russian Embassy in Australia

01 January 2026 00:03

🎄 Dear all, Happy New Year! 👍

#NewYear #NewYear2026

Russian Embassy in Australia

30 December 2025 14:54

🗓 On December 29, President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed a decree establishing April 19 as the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Genocide of the Soviet People, perpetrated by the Nazis and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

The draft law to introduce this Day of Remembrance was developed by Russia's State Duma Committee on Defence in November 2025. The authors of the initiative proposed commemorating the victims on April 19, as on this date in 1943 the first legal act was issued that officially documented the Nazis’ policy of exterminating civilians in the occupied territories – Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR No. 39 “On punishment measures for Nazi villains guilty of killing and torturing the Soviet civilian population and captured Red Army soldiers, for spies, traitors to the motherland from among Soviet citizens and for their accomplices”.

Decree No. 39 laid the legal foundations for bringing to justice Nazi criminals and their accomplices, including Italian, Romanian, Hungarian and Finnish military personnel. Materials collected during investigations conducted on the basis of Decree No. 39 formed a key part of the evidentiary base at the Nuremberg Tribunal, the Khabarovsk Trial, and other judicial proceedings against war criminals from the Axis powers.

💬 Speaking at a meeting of Pobeda (Victory) Organizing Committee on July 2, 2020, Vladimir Putin noted:

“The Nazis planned to colonize the Soviet land, to kill or turn into slaves and to take away the languages and culture of all who lived here – the Slavs and people of other ethnicities. These crimes of the Nazis and their minions and the genocide against the peoples of the Soviet Union do not have a statute of limitations. This assessment must remain firm in our legislation and in the international law system”.

Russian Embassy in Australia

12 January 2026 23:57

#KievRegimeCrimes

⚡️ Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik:

PHOTO EVIDENCE of crimes committed by Ukrainian armed forces over the week of January 5-11, 2026:

▪️ January 5 – a kamikaze drone attacked civilian transport in Shebekino, Belgorod Region.

▪️ January 6 – a strike drone attacked the Centre for Talented Children on the Arabatskaya Spit, Kherson Region.

▪️ January 6 – three fixed-wing UAVs (FP-1) attacked a metal-plastic window manufacturing facility in Donetsk, DPR.

▪️ January 6 – a fixed-wing UAV (FP-1) struck the territory of a private residence in Donetsk, DPR.

▪️ January 7 – a strike drone attacked a residential area in Sukhodolsk, LPR.

▪️ January 7 – as a result of an FPV-drone strike, a civilian was killed in the vicinity of Rodinskoye, DPR.

▪️ January 9 – a kamikaze drone attacked a civilian cargo vehicle in Shebekino, Belgorod Region.

▪️ January 10 – a UAV struck an apartment building in Berdyansk, Zaporozhye Region.

▪️ January 10 – a fixed-wing UAV (FP-1) attacked a vehicle service station building in Makeevka, DPR.

▪️ January 10 – a fixed-wing UAV (Chaklun-V) struck an apartment building in Voronezh. One woman was killed, three civilians were injured.

Russian Embassy in Australia

12 January 2026 06:00

🏳️Captured Ukrainian serviceman tells about command's attitude towards soldiers

The POW, Aleksandr Shakura, was captured by units of the Tsentr Group of Forces in Krasnoarmeysk direction.

'Our chiefs sent me here, to the front line, with all the truths and lies. We were guarding the position. We stayed there for four months and 20 days. I asked them when someone would change us. The answer was: 'No one will ever change you', the POW recalls.

Russian Embassy in Australia

10 January 2026 22:13

⚡️ On false allegations against the Russian side regarding damage to Embassy of Qatar in Kiev

Ukrainian sources are circulating reports alleging that the Embassy of the State of Qatar in Kiev sustained damage during the Russian strike on January 9.

Diplomatic missions have never been targeted by the Russian Armed Forces.

There were no military or other designated targets located in the immediate vicinity of the Qatari diplomatic mission. This strongly suggests that the damage to the embassy building was caused by a malfunction of the Ukrainian air defence system.

Russia regards the State of Qatar as a friendly state and a priority partner.

Read in full

Russian Embassy in Australia

09 January 2026 00:24

⚡️ Russia's Foreign Ministry statement regarding the forcible seizure of the oil tanker Marinera

Read in full

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses grave concern over the illegal use of force by the United States Armed Forces against the oil tanker Marinera on January 7.

The Marinera, which was temporarily authorised to fly the Russian flag on December 24 in accordance with international and Russian law, was transiting peacefully through international waters of the North Atlantic en route to a Russian port.

US authorities, including through official communications with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were repeatedly provided with reliable information confirming the vessel’s Russian registration and its civilian, non-military status.

There could have been no doubt regarding this fact, nor any basis for alleging that the tanker was sailing “without a flag” or “under a false flag.”

International maritime law explicitly grants the flag state exclusive jurisdiction over its vessels on the high seas. Stopping and inspecting a vessel in international waters is permitted only under narrowly defined circumstances, such as suspected piracy or slave trading – neither of which apply to the Marinera.

In all other cases, such actions require the consent of the flag state, which in this instance is Russia.

❗️ Not only did Russia refuse to provide such consent, it formally protested to US authorities in recent weeks over the continued pursuit of the Marinera by a US Coast Guard vessel, demanding an immediate end to the pursuit and the withdrawal of unlawful demands made to the Russian ship’s captain.

Under these circumstances, the boarding and de facto seizure of a civilian vessel on the high seas by US military personnel, along with the detention of its crew, can only be viewed as a gross violation of fundamental principles and norms of international maritime law and the freedom of navigation.

This constitutes a serious infringement upon the legitimate rights and interests of the shipowner. The lives and health of the Marinera’s crew, which includes citizens of several countries, are now at risk.

We consider the threats of legal action against them on absurd grounds by US authorities to be utterly unacceptable.

<...>

❌ References by the United States to its domestic “sanctions legislation” are without legal foundation. The unilateral restrictive measures imposed by the US and other Western countries are illegitimate and cannot justify attempts to assert jurisdiction, let alone the seizure of vessels, on the high seas.

Suggestions from certain US officials that the seizure of the Marinera is part of a broader strategy to establish Washington’s unlimited control over Venezuela’s natural resources are profoundly cynical.

We categorically reject such neo-colonial ambitions.

Alongside the US administration’s disregard for the accepted norms of international maritime navigation, Washington’s readiness to provoke acute international crises, including in Russian-American relations, which are already severely strained, is both regrettable and alarming.

The Marinera incident can only lead to a further escalation of military-political tensions in the Euro-Atlantic region and a dangerous lowering of the threshold for using force against civilian shipping.

<...>

☝️ We call on Washington to return to the established norms and principles of international maritime law and to immediately cease its unlawful actions against the Marinera and other vessels engaged in lawful activities on the high seas.

We reiterate our demand that the United States ensure appropriate and humane treatment of the Russian citizens on board, fully respect their rights, and facilitate their swift return home.

Russian Embassy in Australia

07 January 2026 13:01

☦️ Nativity Message of His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus’ (January 6, 2026)

💬 Dear brothers and sisters!

I wholeheartedly congratulate all of you with the great feast of the Nativity of Christ and the beginning of the New Year!

If we picture ourselves standing in the cave of Bethlehem, we will see the divine Infant Jesus lying in a manger, and the Most Pure Virgin Mary leaning over Him in reverence and love.

Over the past two thousand years, this Gospel scene has inspired countless icons and paintings, literary works and musical masterpieces.
But what is the true meaning of this event?
Why did the eternal, infinite, invisible and incomprehensible God come to a world exhausted by sin, weary from wars and strife, wounded by injustice and sorrow?

For centuries, people have cried out to heaven and still continue to ask: «Where are You, God? Why are You silent?»
But God is not silent.

❗️He answers. But not with volumes of philosophical writings, nor with the creation of a perfect legal system, nor by building a utopian state of universal equality and prosperity.
He answers with boundless, self-giving love.
He answers through His coming into the world, through the preaching of the Gospel, through the Crucifixion and the Resurrection.

He speaks through the voice of His Church, established by Him, and through the voice of conscience that He placed within every human soul.
To all of us has been given divine revelation, fully manifested in the truth of the newborn Jesus Christ. By believing in Him and living according to His commandments, we find answers to the eternal questions of life’s meaning and our true purpose.

We know, believe, and proclaim that the Lord is always with us. He who, as the Apostle Paul writes, is «the same yesterday, today, and forever.»

He is not a distant observer or a cruel judge. He is not an abstract idea or an indifferent force, but the living, loving, and merciful Father. And no matter how troubling, unpredictable, difficult, or hopeless our circumstances may seem, Christ was, is, and always will be our Savior.

He is the one and only inexhaustible source of all blessings, the unshakable foundation upon which alone a true, meaningful, and dignified human life can be built.

I warmly wish all of you a joyful feast!
Merry Christmas!

Full message

Russian Embassy in Australia

06 January 2026 23:51

☦️ Russia's President Vladimir Putin congratulated Orthodox Christians and all Russians celebrating Christmas (January 7, 2026)

✍️ Vladimir Putin: This wonderful holiday illuminates the world with the light of kindness and love, giving millions of people hope and the joy of communion with the spiritual traditions of our forebears, passed down from generation to generation.

I would like to note with deep appreciation the immense and truly unique contribution made by the Russian Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations to strengthening social unity, preserving our rich historical and cultural heritage, and fostering the patriotic and moral upbringing of young people.

Religious organisations devote tireless attention to works of mercy and charity, care for those in need, support participants and veterans of the special military operation, and do much to promote harmonious interfaith and interethnic dialogue in our country. This important and much-needed work deserves the most sincere recognition.

I wish Orthodox Christians and all those who celebrate Christmas good health, success and all the very best.

Russian Embassy in Australia

04 January 2026 00:32

⚡️ Russia's Foreign Ministry statement concerning developments around Venezuela

In view of the confirmed reports about Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his spouse being in the United States, we strongly urge the US leadership to reconsider their position and release the legitimately elected president of a sovereign country and his spouse.

We highlight the need to create conditions for resolving any existing issues between the United States and Venezuela through dialogue.

Russian Embassy in Australia

03 January 2026 11:24

🎙 Comment by Russian MFA Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on the revocation of the rehabilitation of Japanese war criminals (January 2, 2026)

💬 In 2025, we marked a major anniversary, 80 years since the Great Victory and the end of #WWII.

In the new year, we will keep disclosing information about the war crimes committed in the mid-XXth century, including by Japanese militarists.

We have repeatedly stressed that these crimes have #NoStatuteOfLimitation while the legal proceedings required to prosecute all the criminals continue to this day.

In April-November 2025, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation issued decisions revoking the rulings adopted in the 1980s-2000s that had granted rehabilitation to the following Japanese citizens:

• Masaichiro KADOMA
• Tatsuo MARUYAMA
• Hiroshi MOMMA
• Hatsuo NIOKA
• Yoshizumi NIHEI
• Haruju ONO
• Yasuhide SATO
• Juniti TORIUMI
• Seichi MATSUI
• Imao MATSUTA
• Fukio KAWANA
• Kazuhisa MASUDA
• Ichizo OHARA
• Tsuneichi TAKAYAMA
• Tokusaburo SATO
• Makoto BABA
• Nobuo IMAI
• Tetsuji MARUYAMA
• Tadao MAEDA
• Yasumichi KAGAWA

During the war and even after Japan’s surrender in 1945, 👉 they participated in sabotage and espionage against the Soviet Union.

Following a review of the court decisions by the cassation court and supervisory authority, it has been established that these individuals are not subject to rehabilitation and that their guilt has been proven in full.

As a specific example, it should be noted that several criminals from this list surrendered to the Red Army but subsequently made attempts to organise espionage in order to gather intelligence on the manpower and disposition of Soviet forces. Some others trained saboteurs while operating in the border regions. There are also individuals among the listed who sent people to the notorious Unit 731 for experiments.

❗️ The efforts on disclosing and making public the information on the crimes of the militarist Japan will continue.

Russian Embassy in Australia

01 January 2026 21:47

⚡️ Foreign Ministry statement on the terrorist attack by the Kiev regime targeting civilians in the Kherson Region of the Russian Federation

In the early hours of January 1, 2026, the criminal neo-Nazi Kiev regime carried out a targeted attack using armed UAVs which took aim at a café and a hotel in Khorly, Kherson Region. Local residents were celebrating the New Year’s Eve there with their families. While the exact number of those who were killed and injured in these strikes and during the fire that they caused has yet to be established, it is already clear that several dozen civilians suffered in this attack, of whom 24 people died, including one minor.

Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal file on terrorist charges. Everyone who took part in this monstrous and bloody crime will be identified and would not be able to evade justice.

By perpetrating this barbarous atrocity, the Kiev regime has once again demonstrated its human-hating neo-Nazi nature. The Ukrainian Armed Forces attacked civilians with their drones hot on the heels of Zelensky perorations, as repeated during his New Year speech, on Kiev’s commitment to peace. We have long grown accustomed to this cynical posture, which transcends all possible boundaries and demonstrates that he has totally lost his moral bearings.

The Kiev usurper decided to target helpless civilians in his impotent range, against the backdrop of the successful advancement of the Russian Armed Forces and the losses suffered by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as well as the failed attempt by the Ukrainian terrorists to carry out a strike against the President of the Russian Federation’s state residence in the Novgorod Region in the early hours of December 29, 2025. He is ready to kill women and children and to perpetrate crimes similar to what happened at the Trade Union House in Odessa for the sake of holding on to power and in an effort to intimidate people from the regions which have recently reunified with Russia by linking their destinies to it forever by holding referendums.

As for the attempts by the Kiev regime to target the Presidential residence in the Novgorod Region, these was a special technical review of a block from the navigation system of one of the Ukrainian drones which were downed in the Novgorod Region’s air space in the early hours of December 29, 2025. Members of the Russian special services have succeeded in extracting the file with the mission description, and these materials will be forwarded to the United States using the appropriate channels.

Every day, the Russian Defence Ministry’s air defence systems deflect drone attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces against the regions of Russia, including its capital – there were about 10 attacks of this kind today.

❗️These attempts are designed to distract people in order to leave the frontline failures of the Ukrainian Armed Forces unnoticed. The Kiev regime has been trying, in vain, to prove its viability using terrorist attacks.

It is just as obvious that Office of the President of Ukraine on Bankovaya Street has been intentionally seeking to derail any attempts to find peaceful solutions.

This latest criminal strike against civilians in Khorly is a bloody atrocity by the Kiev clique. Western leaders who continue sponsoring the bankrupt regime with money and weapons bear full responsibility for this crime.

The Foreign Ministry firmly condemns all the terrorist attacks by the Kiev regime.

◼️ We express our sincere condolences to the families and friends on the victims and wish the injured speedy recovery.

The Foreign Ministry calls on the governments of the responsible sovereign countries and the relevant international structures to publicly express their resolute condemnation of the bloody terrorist attack by the Kiev regime in the Kherson Region.

☝️ Ignoring this tragedy would amount to only one thing – openly encouraging neo-Banderite terrorist crimes and acting as accomplices, which will be interpreted in legal terms with the corresponding legal consequences.

Russian Embassy in Australia

01 January 2026 10:56

⚡️ Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Rodion Miroshnik:

💬 In the very first minutes of the New Year, the Kiev regime stained it with blood, leaving dozens of civilians killed and wounded in Russia’s Kherson Region.

The New Year address of the Ukrainian dictator was broadcast at the very moment when dozens of peaceful residents were dying as a result of a strike carried out on his direct orders.

A drone attack targeting a location crowded with civilians in the Kherson Region amounts to a deliberate act of terrorism, which continues the ongoing pattern of inhumane killings by Ukrainian neo-Nazis.

The massive drone strike carried out by Ukrainian militants on New Year’s night against a purely civilian site, crowded with peaceful residents, clearly demonstrates their irreconcilable hostility to any prospect of ending the bloodshed through political and diplomatic means.

The deaths of civilians and the continuing bloodshed are a price the Zelensky regime pays without hesitation to cling to power, shield its corrupt inner circle, and meet the demands of its European patrons – for whom even the prospect of ending the bloodshed in Ukraine is unacceptable.

This barbaric act must receive the harshest legal and political assessment from all countries for which the very notion of international humanitarian law is not an empty phrase. Russian diplomats will raise this issue at all key international platforms.

The killing of dozens of civilians by Ukrainian militants cannot and must not go unpunished.

As of now, 24 civilians have been killed and 50 wounded. Among the injured are six children aged 6 to 17.

#KievRegimeCrimes

Russian Embassy in Australia

01 January 2026 09:48

На месте пепелище, всё сгорело: первые кадры с места удара украинских дронов в Херсонской области.

В результате атаки на кафе и гостиницу погибли 24 человека, более 50 пострадали, сообщил губернатор Сальдо.

Кадры пресс-службы губернатора региона.

🟩 Подписаться на RT: ТГ | Зеркало | MAX

Russian Embassy in Australia

01 January 2026 09:46

Ночью на Банковой гуляли по-новогоднему: ВСУ атаковали кафе в Херсонской области, 24 человека погибли и более 50 ранены, пять детей госпитализированы.


Так коллаборационисты с Западной Украины сжигали людей в белорусской деревне Хатынь. Сгоняли людей в амбары и поджигали. А кто выбирался - расстреливали. Разница в том, что тогда, более 82 лет назад, нацисты не прикрывались защитой детей и преданностью демократии. Они просто жгли людей и добивали их прикладами, закапывали заживо и штыками протыкали не задохнувшихся.
Сегодня этот звериный почерк мы видим в исполнении киевского режима. Та же неонацистская ненависть, то же расчеловечивание в геометрической прогрессии, то же глумление над святым.

Сегодня на утренний стол с круассанами и яйцами пашот президентам и премьер-министрам стран коллективного Запада должны лечь отчеты о том, как потрачены миллиарды долларов и евро их налогоплательщиков, сколько новогодних подарков куплено на них для убийства мирных жителей, как они соучаствовали в уничтожении детей.
Обвиняем в этом всех, кто спонсирует террористических ублюдков на Украине! Обвиняем в убийстве детей и уничтожении мирных жителей! Обвиняем в растлении украинской государственности, превратившейся в машину для убийств! Обвиняем!

Russian Embassy in Australia

01 January 2026 00:03

🎄 President of Russia Vladimir Putin’s New Year Address to the Nation

💬 Esteemed citizens of Russia, dear friends,

In these final moments before the New Year, we feel time itself moving forward. The future lies ahead of us – and what it will become largely depends on us.

We rely on our own strength. On those who stand beside us, who are dear and close to our hearts, and we are always ready to lend a shoulder in return. This mutual support gives us confidence that all we have planned – our hopes and aspirations – will definitely come true.

Of course, each of us has our own dreams – personal, special and distinct in their own way. Yet they are inseparable from the destiny of our Fatherland, from a sincere wish to be of benefit to it. For together we are the people of Russia.

The labour, successes and achievements of each of us form new chapters in Russia's thousand-year history. And the strength of our unity determines the sovereignty and security of the Fatherland, its development and its future.

The New Year is, above all, faith in all that is good – in kindness and good fortune. It is a unique and magical holiday, when hearts open to love, friendship and compassion, to attentiveness and generosity.

We seek to bring joy and warmth through our care to those who need support and attention. And, of course, through word and deed, to stand by our heroes – the participants in the special military operation.

You have taken upon yourselves the responsibility to fight for your home country, for truth and justice. Millions of people across Russia, I assure you, stand by your side on this New Year’s night. They are thinking of you, sharing your trials, and believing in you. We are united by a sincere, selfless and devoted love for Russia.

💪 I congratulate all our soldiers and commanders on the coming New Year! We believe in you and in our Victory!

***

Dear friends, in just a few moments we will hear the chimes of the Kremlin Clock, and the New Year will commence. We welcome it together with those closest to us – with our children, parents, friends and comrades-in-arms. Even those who are far away right now – you are still with us in spirit.

I wish everyone good health and happiness, mutual understanding and well-being. And, without fail, love – the kind that inspires.

May our traditions, our faith and our memory unite all generations and support us always in every endeavour. Together we are one big family – strong and united. And therefore we will continue to work and to create, to achieve our goals and to move only forward – for the sake of our children and grandchildren, for the sake of our great Russia.

🎉 Happy New Year 2️⃣0️⃣2️⃣6️⃣, dear friends!

Russian Embassy in Australia

30 December 2025 23:00

🇷🇺 Уважаемые соотечественники, дорогие друзья!

🎄 От всей души поздравляю вас с наступающими праздниками – Новым 2026 годом и Рождеством Христовым!

💐 Уходит 2025 год. Он прошел под знаком 80-летия Победы в Великой Отечественной войне. Эта столь значимая дата нашла искренний отклик в сердцах наших соотечественников в Австралии. Были проведены шествия и построения «Бессмертного полка», организованы акции «Сад памяти», «Букет Победы», «Свеча памяти», мотопробеги, показы художественных и документальных военных фильмов и другие мероприятия, приуроченные к этой священной дате. Они помогли укреплению вашей связи с Родиной, сохранению культурной идентичности и исторической правды о бессмертном подвиге советского народа, внесшего решающий вклад в разгром нацизма ценой огромных жертв.

🔗 Уходящий год еще раз доказал, что сплочение общества позволяет справляться с любыми трудностями и проблемами. Единство всех жителей России перед лицом вызовов и угроз всегда было ключевым фактором успешной защиты ее независимости и суверенитета.

❗️Во многом благодаря этому фактору наша страна стала в 2025 году еще сильнее и добилась больших успехов в реализации своих законных интересов и достижении целей на всех фронтах и во всех сферах – экономической, социальной, политической, военной, обеспечения безопасности, защиты прав своих граждан и соотечественников.

🤝 2026 год провозглашен Годом единства народов России. Единение и сплочение – ключевые моменты и для наших соотечественников, которые являются важным связующим звеном между народами и культурами наших стран, осуществляют гуманитарные и иные проекты, способствуют сохранению русского языка и традиций на Зеленом континенте. Большую роль в этом играет и Русская православная церковь.

🇷🇺 Со своей стороны, намерены и впредь развивать взаимодействие с российской диаспорой и духовенством в Австралии.

🌟 Пусть наступающий 2026 год поможет достичь всех поставленных целей, откроет новые возможности. Желаю вам крепкого здоровья, счастья и благополучия!

Russian Embassy in Australia

30 December 2025 05:06

Putin signs law establishing April 19 as the 'Day of remembrance for the VICTIMS OF GENOCIDE of the Soviet people, committed by the Nazis and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War'