👩‍🚀 On June 16, 1963, 62 years ago, Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in history to travel into space. Her flight took place just over two years after Yury Gagarin’s historic mission and marked another major triumph for the Soviet space programme.

🚀 Aboard the Vostok-6 spacecraft, Tereshkova spent nearly three days in orbit, completing 48 revolutions around the Earth. The mission was not only a scientific experiment – researchers were eager to study the effects of spaceflight on the female body – but also a powerful symbol of the times: from that moment on, space was no longer the exclusive domain of men.

Valentina Tereshkova flew solo – an extraordinary feat, as no other woman has since made a solo spaceflight . While in orbit, she maintained radio contact with Valery Bykovsky, the pilot of Vostok-5. After a successful landing in the Altai Territory, she couldn’t resist sharing her space rations with local residents, and happily joined them for a meal of potatoes and koumiss.

🌍 At just 26 years old, Valentina Tereshkova became not only the first female cosmonaut, but a true legend. She was named a Hero of the Soviet Union, granted the status of an honorary citizen of 18 cities, and received awards from countries around the world. Her achievement inspired millions of young women in our country and beyond.

📅 Remarkably, it would be another 19 years before a woman returned to space – and once again, it was a Soviet cosmonaut: in 1982, Svetlana Savitskaya made her historic flight.

Valentina Tereshkova was the sixth Soviet cosmonaut, the twelfth person in space, and remains the youngest woman ever to orbit the Earth. Her daughter holds a unique distinction as the first person in history born to two cosmonauts.

📹 Video address of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on the 100th Anniversary of the Artek International Children’s Centre (June 16, 2025)

💬 Friends,

The 100th Anniversary of the Artek International Children’s Centre is a momentous occasion for all of Russia. As the nation’s first camp dedicated to the recreation and health of schoolchildren, Artek has long stood as a symbol of joyful childhood and enduring friendship.

Over the years, it has warmly welcomed boys and girls from across the country and around the world. For many, the days spent on the shores of the Black Sea became a true celebration of a vivid, cherished dream come to life. At Artek, children were inspired, guided, and educated. They were encouraged to grow in harmony, to understand the power of camaraderie and teamwork, to express their creativity, and to believe in themselves. It was a place where talents were discovered, values were shaped, and goals for the future began to take form.

Meetings with renowned writers, cosmonauts, public figures, Olympic champions, and distinguished military leaders played a vital role in shaping the young minds of the schoolchildren fortunate enough to spend their holidays at Artek.

It is heartening to see that these and many other traditions continue to thrive today. What began a century ago as a modest tent camp has grown into one of the world’s largest and most renowned centres for children’s recreation. Artek’s appeal remains as strong as ever, which is why the final stage of the country’s largest youth contest, Bolshaya Peremena (The Big Recess), is now held here.

While preserving its unique spirit, Artek has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years. Today, it stands as a modern, forward-thinking space where every child can find something that inspires them, whether it is sports, the arts, exploring new technologies, or joining hikes, excursions, and workshops. The themed sessions organised by educational institutions and public organisations are particularly popular.

This vibrant, educational environment is the result of the tireless and creative efforts of educators and counsellors, teachers and medical staff – of all those who have devoted themselves to the development of Artek.

I would like to offer my sincere gratitude for your dedication, hard work and commitment. The experience gained here and the unique approaches to shaping young personalities are more relevant and valuable today than ever before.

I congratulate all generations of Artek alumni on this remarkable anniversary and wish you continued success in all your pursuits.

🎉 Happy birthday to the legendary, forever young, joyful, and one-of-a-kind Artek.

#Artek100

🎙 Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova’s answer to a media question regarding the prospects for Russian-American consultations (June 17, 2025)

❓ Question: Could you clarify when the next round of Russian-American bilateral consultations will take place?

💬 Maria Zakharova: As of today, the next meeting within the framework of bilateral consultations aimed at eliminating irritants to normalise the operations of diplomatic missions of both countries has been cancelled by the American negotiators.

We hope that the pause they have taken will not prove excessively prolonged.

🎙 Comment by Russia's Ambassador to the US Alexander Darchiev for TV 'Russia 1' Programme "News of the Week" (June 15, 2025)

💬 Alexander Darchiev: The conversation [with US President Donald Trump following the presentation of credentials] was very constructive.

I assured the President that, according to the instructions I have, I will do everything possible to restore Russian-American relations, return them to normality and common sense.

There is such understanding. Now it is time for practical work.

#RussiaUS

🎙 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks at talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono (Moscow, June 17, 2025)

💬 Dear Mr. Minister,

Colleagues,

We are delighted to welcome you to Moscow.

It is a pleasure to host you for the third time in the past year. In the summer of 2024, we participated in our Leaders’ meeting at the Kremlin, in autumn, we travelled to Kazan for the #BRICS events, and this past winter, you met with First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov.

Today’s talks are taking place in the run-up to another Summit meeting between our Presidents. They will meet the day after tomorrow in St Petersburg, ahead of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Several months ago, we celebrated the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between our countries. Over this period, diplomatic interaction has consistently reaffirmed the special nature of our friendly and trust-based ties, reflecting shared approaches to key international issues.

🤝 We appreciate our Indonesian partners’ constructive and substantive approach – guided by national interest – to advancing bilateral relations across trade, economic, humanitarian, political, and security cooperation.

We are pleased with our close coordination in the international arena, which is gaining momentum and taking on new forms. We welcome your country’s accession to BRICS as a full member. We are satisfied with our cooperation within the UN, the G20, and the Russia-ASEAN Dialogue Partnership.

We hope to discuss each of our cooperation tracks today to report our assessments to the Presidents of Russia and Indonesia.

🇷🇺🇮🇩 #RussiaIndonesia

🇷🇺🇪🇬📞 On June 17, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigration of the Arab Republic of Egypt Badr Abdelatty.

The discussion primarily addressed the unprecedented escalation in the Middle East. The Ministers expressed profound concern regarding Israel’s use of force against Iran, which constitutes a violation of the UN Charter and international law.

The Heads of diplomacy underscored the urgent necessity to cease hostilities and refrain from actions that could exacerbate armed confrontation and expand the conflict zone, with inevitable negative repercussions for the entire region.

In this context, Sergey Lavrov highlighted the joint statement issued by the foreign ministries of 20 Arab and Muslim nations, including Egypt, which calls for an immediate ceasefire and collective endeavours to de-escalate tensions. The Egyptian Side highly commended Russia’s readiness to offer the necessary mediation for a political and diplomatic resolution to the crisis.

#RussiaEgypt

🇷🇺🇮🇩 Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks during a joint news conference with Foreign Minister of Indonesia Sugiono following their talks (Moscow, June 17, 2025)

💬 Sergey Lavrov: As usual, we held talks with Foreign Minister of Indonesia Sugiono in an atmosphere of trust, and in an open, friendly and constructive manner.

Once again, we noted the fact that our two countries marked 75 years of Russia-Indonesia diplomatic relations in February 2025. These relations have been gathering momentum lately. We have established regular trust-based political dialogue at the highest and high levels. There are also regular inter-parliamentary exchanges. Today, we expressed our shared interest in having our respective political parties work with certain neighbouring countries and other nations. In addition, the ruling parties of both Russia and Indonesia could contribute to various frameworks which shape our strategic partnership.

We had a detailed discussion of our bilateral agenda, as well as regional and international affairs. Both our countries are looking forward to stepping up cooperation in defence and security matters, in particular in cybersecurity, law enforcement, including fighting cybercrime, drug trafficking, and extremism. We also spoke out in favour of consolidating the legal framework governing our relations.

We noted that cooperation between Russian and Indonesian navies for holding joint exercises has been gathering momentum. As usual, building on its existing experience and know-how, our country is ready to review any requests our Indonesian friends might have in terms of our military-technical cooperation <...>

Having Indonesia sign a free trade agreement with the EAEU could have a major impact in terms of strengthening economic cooperation with our Indonesian friends. This agreement is about to be finalised. We hope that it will be signed without delay <...>

We pointed out that our positions on the majority of international issues, including the most important current matters, coincide or are similar. I am referring to the situation in the Middle East and the Palestinian territories, and Israel’s attack on the Islamic Republic of Iran. It is necessary for the international community to make every possible effort to calm down and deescalate the situation and promote settlement of any disputes at the negotiating table.

It is delightful that Indonesia has joined BRICS as a full member. We emphasised that our joint work within this framework will help strengthen the multipolar foundations of global politics and economy.

We share an interest in the constructive development of the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, so that any attempts to incite confrontation there fail. Relations between Russia and ASEAN are of great significance in this context. We welcome Jakarta’s resolve to continue to encourage the development of Russia-ASEAN cooperation, in particular in light of the 35th anniversary of our dialogue partnership with the Association, which we will mark next year. We drew the attention of our colleagues to the initiative for creating a Eurasian architecture of equal and indivisible security, which the Russian Federation is promoting jointly with many other countries and which will be open to any country on the continent, unlike the schemes advocated by our Western colleagues in the form of Indo-Pacific strategies.

I expressed gratitude to our friends for their balanced stance on the conflict in Ukraine, for their understanding of the situation and their recognition of the futility of pandering to the attempts to include the Ukrainian issue in the agenda of all international organisations and platforms.

📄 Read in full

#RussiaIndonesia

⚡️ Russian Foreign Ministry Statement in connection with the escalation of the Iranian-Israeli conflict

The current escalation of the Iranian-Israeli conflict poses risks of further destabilisation across the region, particularly in the states neighbouring Israel and Iran.

The firm and unwavering response of the global majority to Israeli strikes on Iranian territory, including its nuclear energy infrastructure, alongside the outcomes of the UN Security Council’s emergency session on June 13 and the special session of the IAEA Board of Governors on June 16, underscores that the confrontational approach and destructive actions of the Israeli leadership receive understanding and support solely from those states which are de facto accomplices, motivated by opportunistic interests.

It was precisely these “sympathisers” who exerted pressure on the leadership of the Agency to prepare a controversial “comprehensive assessment” of Iran’s nuclear programme, the flaws of which were subsequently exploited to push through a biased anti-Iran resolution at the IAEA Board of Governors on June 12. This resolution effectively provided a green light to actions by West Jerusalem, leading to tragedy. Clearly, the attempts of the Western camp to manipulate the global nuclear non-proliferation regime in order to settle political scores with disfavoured nations come at a high cost to the international community and are entirely unacceptable.

Israel’s continued, intensive attacks on peaceful nuclear facilities in the Islamic Republic of Iran are unlawful under international law, pose unacceptable threats to international security, and drive the world closer to a nuclear catastrophe – the consequences of which will be felt globally, including in Israel itself.

Russia calls on the Israeli leadership to reconsider its actions and immediately cease its raids on nuclear installations and sites under IAEA safeguards and subject to IAEA verification.

The Russian side expects the leadership of the Agency to promptly prepare a detailed written report for consideration by the IAEA Board of Governors and the UN Security Council. This report must provide objective and unvarnished assessments of the damage caused by Israeli military actions to the safety of Iran’s nuclear energy complex, as well as to the application of IAEA safeguards in Iran – including the intimidation of inspectors on the ground, whose lives have been placed in grave danger.

❗️ Russia acknowledges Iran’s clear statements reaffirming its unwavering commitment to obligations under the NPT and its readiness to resume contacts with the United States to explore potential solutions that would dispel any unfounded suspicions and prejudices regarding Tehran’s nuclear programme – provided Israeli attacks cease. Moscow supports this stance and firmly maintains that a sustainable resolution can only be reliably achieved through diplomacy and negotiations.

The objectives of nuclear non-proliferation, the cornerstone of which remains the NPT, must not be pursued through aggression or at the cost of innocent lives.

🇷🇺🇦🇪📞 President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan spoke over the phone (June 18, 2025)

The Leaders exchanged views in relation to the rapid escalation in the Middle East. Both sides expressed deep concern over the ongoing escalation of the conflict between Iran and Israel, fraught with most adverse consequences for the entire region.

They emphasised it was imperative to cease the hostilities and step up the political and diplomatic efforts aimed at settling the differences related to Iran's nuclear programme.

Vladimir Putin confirmed Russia was willing to provide mediation with a view to promoting the dialogue between the parties to the conflict. In addition, he notified his counterpart of contacts made with several foreign leaders to discuss the issue.

The Presidents expressed satisfaction with the high level achieved in Russia-UAE cooperation in political, trade and economic, and humanitarian and cultural matters, and agreed to maintain personal contact.

#RussiaUAE

🎙 Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks during his meeting with Foreign Minister of Uganda Jeje Odongo (Moscow, June 18, 2025)

💬 I am delighted to see you.

We attach a lot of importance to our cooperation with Uganda. President Yoweri Museveni attended both the first and the second #RussiaAfrica summits and took part in them proactively by pushing for a new African agenda.

It was also an honour for me to receive you in November 2024 in Sochi on the sidelines of the First Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum.

In our current efforts to work with the African Union and national governments, Russia tends to focus on carrying out the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum Action Plan 2023–2026 as adopted at the Second Russia-Africa Summit. It sets forth specific priority areas.

We welcome Uganda as a #BRICS partner country. Its accession to this status was one of the main outcomes of the Kazan summit.

We look forward to working with our friends in Uganda within this new framework.

#RussiaUganda

🇷🇺🇴🇲📞 On June 18, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Foreign Minister of the Sultanate of Oman Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al-Busaidi had a telephone conversation at the initiative of the Omani side.

During their conversation, the Ministers discussed the unprecedented escalation of tension in the #MiddleEast; this became the result of a large-scale Israeli military operation against Iran in violation of the UN Charter and norms of international law.

The Foreign Ministers emphasised the importance of ending hostilities as soon as possible and preventing the expansion of the zone of the conflict fraught with tragic consequences for the entire region.

Sergey Lavrov thanked the Foreign Minister of Oman for mediatory efforts aiming to find mutually acceptable solutions for contentious issues, including those related to the Iran’s nuclear programme.

The Ministers noted the importance of continued joint efforts to cope with confrontation by political and diplomatic means and to create favourable conditions for launching a sustained negotiating process as soon as possible.

#RussiaOman