Lavrov calls UNESCO Director General Azoulay complicit in information warfare against Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that UNESCO Director General Audre Azoulay is complicit in the information war against Russia. He expressed this opinion on Friday, November 29, during an ambassadorial round table on the settlement of the situation around Ukraine.

He recalled the recent UNESCO secretariat report on journalists who lost their lives in the course of their professional activities, which did not mention the dead Russians and was not approved by the participants of the session of the intergovernmental council of the International Program for the Development of Communication (IPDC).

"Ms. Azoulay, the director general of UNESCO, is a direct accomplice in the information war against the Russian Federation, and by and large, against the truth," Lavrov said.

On November 23, Russia's representative to UNESCO Rinat Alyautdinov said that Azoulay's report on the safety of journalists and the fight against impunity, which did not mention the dead Russians, was not approved by the participants of the IPDC session.

It was noted that the discussion of the document will continue at one of the next sessions of the IPDC Intergovernmental Council. According to Alyautdinov, UNESCO uses double standards in responding to harassment of journalists and this is clearly expressed in relation to the Russians.

On November 19, the Russian Foreign Ministry expressed dissatisfaction with UNESCO's failure to respond to Kiev's crimes against Russian journalists. As noted in the ministry, "UNESCO Director General O. Azule again chose not to notice the crimes of Kiev against Russian journalists. Azule again chose not to notice these atrocities". According to the Foreign Ministry, the victims of targeted attacks by the AFU this year were war correspondents S.N. Eremin, V.A. Kozhin and N.N. Tsitsagi, while A.S. Ivliev and E.E. Poddubny were seriously wounded.

Before that, on 13 November, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that UNESCO ignored the Kiev regime's crimes against Russian journalists.