Moscow Calling – June 6

Zelenskyy is corrupt, propaganda says

The Russian propaganda outlet EADaily reports on another “multi-million dollar purchase” by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. This time, according to the outlet, Zelenskyy bought a $3.2 million apartment in the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai for his mother’s birthday. The publication cites a report on the Telegram channel “Voice of Mordor,” which, in turn, claims that the information was disseminated by the Saudi Arabian state channel Al Arabiya, whose journalists found this very apartment in the real estate registry of the world’s tallest building in the neighboring UAE. Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russian propaganda has periodically spread reports about the Ukrainian president’s multi-million dollar purchases, including expensive real estate, jewelry worth millions, and cars, citing social media posts or recently created so-called media outlets in foreign countries. As a rule, these reports are not confirmed by fact-checkers from various countries (EADaily).

Lt. Gen. Alaudinov says Russian troops avoid storming cities

Based on the experience gained during the war with Ukraine, the Russian military command has abandoned the assault on large cities, EADaily reports, referring to a post on the Telegram channel by Lieutenant General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat special forces unit and deputy chief of the Main Military-Political Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Defense. “The situation, forms, and methods of warfare have completely changed and are dictating a new strategy to us. We do not need to enter all major cities and lose a huge number of fighters,” Alaudinov said. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, Russian troops have not been able to capture a single regional center in battle. They briefly occupied Kherson, entering the city without a fight after Ukrainian forces withdrew, and under enemy assault withdrew “to regroup their forces”.

Lavrov wants to restore the rights of Russian-speakers

While Russian troops continue to attack Ukrainian settlements and bomb civilians in various cities across the country, the Russian foreign minister is still concerned about the rights of Russian-speaking residents of Ukraine. “Russia will not abandon Russians and Russian-speaking people in trouble and will ensure that their legitimate rights, including the right to speak their native language, are fully restored,” he said. According to him, resolving the language issue in Ukraine is necessary for achieving long-term peace. Notably, there is no legislative ban on the Russian language in Ukraine. In everyday life, many Russian-speaking Ukrainians are actively learning and using Ukrainian precisely after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a sign of protest (Lenta.ru).

Poll: Russians trust Putin

According to a poll by the Public Opinion Foundation, most Russians have a positive opinion of President Vladimir Putin’s performance: 82% rated it “good”, while 81% said they trust the head of state. Only 10% of respondents expressed distrust, RIA Novosti reports. It is difficult to say how much trust can be placed in the results of this poll, given the large-scale repression in the country and the brutal suppression of dissent, but many observers, including bloggers and experts, citing their own experience of communicating with Russians on the Internet, tend to agree that despite the ongoing war and sanctions against Russia, the majority of Russians support their leader and his decisions. According to the poll, if elections to the State Duma were held next Sunday, 43% would vote for United Russia, 9% for the LDPR, 7% for the CPRF, 4% for New People, and 3% for Just Russia. The poll was conducted from May 30 to June 1, 2025, among 1,500 people in 51 regions of the Russian Federation (ria.ru).

State Duma Speaker Blames Europeans for Zelenskyy

State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has once again taken to his Telegram channel to remind everyone that it is the parliaments of Europe that should take the blame for Vladimir Zelenskyy’s actions. According to the speaker, it is they who, either silently or enthusiastically, encourage the Ukrainian president and are therefore responsible for what is happening. “The parliaments of European states must realize their responsibility for Zelenskyy’s actions, which he is taking largely with their approval or tacit consent,” he wrote. According to him, “Zelenskyy, having lost his legitimacy and fighting for personal power, has made terrorism the state ideology of the Kyiv regime.” Volodin promised that “someone will have to answer” for the deaths of civilians. However, he left unanswered the questions of who, when, and how (INTERFAX.RU).