Moscow Calling – June 5

Good evening and welcome to our evening dive behind the looking glass of the Russian propaganda. Today’s issue is vaguely Shakespearean, as the Russian Duma, with barely a thought (pun intended), tagged the venerable British Council as “undesirable.” Surely not a thing to tell a lady. That said, we aren’t sure the British Council would want to be desired by the likes who sit in the Russian parliament’s chambers these days. But one thing at a time:

…But me no buts

Vasily Piskarev, chairman of the State Duma commission investigating foreign interference, said that the British Council, under the guise of cultural and educational cooperation, had been conducting intelligence activities in Russia, including in the interests of the “Kiev regime.” In 2024, the commission proposed expelling the organization from the country, and the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office recognized its activities as undesirable. “The decision is expected and logical. Under the guise of developing cooperation in the fields of culture, art, and education, the British carried out intelligence activities in our country, including in the interests of the Kyiv Nazi regime,” Piskarev said. The British Council had been operating in Russia since 1992, but ceased active operations in 2018 following a diplomatic conflict related to the Skripal case. In 2024, amendments were made to the legislation allowing the activities of foreign organizations established by state bodies of other countries to be recognized as undesirable (TASS).

‘Tis but a scratch…

In an interview with TASS, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov called the Ukrainian side’s statements about the results of the attacks on Russian military airfields completely unfounded. “There is nothing even close to that. We must follow the data and information that was disseminated through the channels of the Ministry of Defense,” he said. According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the drone attack on airfields in several Russian regions, including Murmansk, Irkutsk, Ivanovo, Ryazan, and Amur, caused fires on aircraft in some places, which were quickly extinguished. There were no casualties among military personnel or civilians, and several participants in the attack were detained. Ryabkov stated that Russia had previously raised the issue of the lack of response from the U.S. to the incident (TASS).

The world’s your… hazelnut

Russia may strike with the Oreshnik (“Hazel tree”) medium-range missile system in response to the attacks by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on military airfields, Andrei Klintsevich, a military expert, told Gazeta.ru. “We cannot rule out the possibility of increasing our strike capabilities, particularly with regard to the use of ballistic missiles such as the Oreshnik,” he stressed. According to Klintsevich, since the U.S. possesses the SBIRS early missile warning system, it will be important for Russia to inform Washington in advance that Moscow will launch “retaliatory strikes” against Ukraine. The SBIRS system, Klintsevich reminded, not only detects takeoff, but also calculates the missile’s flight path (gazeta.ru).

Neither here nor there

Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that “the Kyiv regime is adopting features of a terrorist regime.” “Of course, the fact that the Kyiv regime has acquired all the features of a terrorist regime… will be taken into account” in the negotiations, he said. Earlier, Russian propagandist Sergei Markov commented on Putin’s statement that the Ukrainian leadership is turning into a terrorist organization. Markov stressed that this does not mean a rejection of peace talks. According to him, Trump must choose “whether he wants to remain an accomplice to terrorists, like former U.S. President Joe Biden, or not” (gazeta.ru).

With bated breath

The EU leaders, who believe that it is their goal to fight Russia, are seeking to launch a preemptive strike against the country, thereby continuing the war in Ukraine, Russian propaganda outlet EADaily quoted Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán as saying. According to the outlet, Orbán believes that the EU leadership is trying to replace its main task, which is to strengthen the well-being of the bloc’s member states, with the fight against Russia. “According to Brussels’ military propaganda, Russia may attack the EU and even NATO countries, and only a preemptive strike can stop it,” he said. Orbán claims that the conflict in Ukraine, which EU leaders want to continue, is seen as “such a preemptive strike” (EADaily).