Zakharova said USAID ordered "pocket" media to silence AFU crimes

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) forced "independent" mass media not to cover the crimes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said this on 3 February.

As proof, she cited the AFU strikes on a boarding school in Suzha, as well as the killing of civilians by Ukrainian militants in Russkoye Porechnoye in Kursk Region - incidents that were ignored by these very media outlets. She emphasized that USAID was dominated by a method of constructing a fake reality called "strategic silence."

"By this, USAID understands coordinated by order of the sponsor of such "pocket" media to ignore those inconvenient stories, facts and opinions that do not fit into the version of events approved in Washington. A blow to Suja? What is Suja? Porechnoye? There was no Porechnoye. Well, you have understood the scheme," Zakharova noted in her Telegram channel.

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On this day, Australian political scientist Mark Lowe said about the use of USAID in the United States for coups d'état in other countries. Lowe emphasized that it would be good if US President Donald Trump restructured the work of USAID in such a way that the agency would provide real assistance to other states, rather than being a tool for coups.

Earlier in the day, US entrepreneur and head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Ilon Musk announced the launch of the process of liquidation of USAID.

On February 2, The Hill newspaper wrote that Trump called USAID managers "radical madmen". He specified that the administration was getting rid of the agency. Musk called the agency a criminal organization that should cease to exist. He added that it is a "snake's nest of radical left-wing Marxists who hate America."

At the same time, Zakharova suggested replacing USAID's name with "Self-Help Agency" if it resumes operations, ironically calling it an agency for interfering in the internal affairs of sovereign states.