"The regime in Kiev is gradually degenerating into a terrorist organization"

Vladimir Putin questioned the possibility of holding a summit with Ukraine at the highest level and a truce amid the latest terrorist attacks. Speaking at a government meeting on June 4, the Russian president noted that a respite in hostilities would be used by Kiev to forcibly mobilize, pump up weapons and prepare terrorist attacks. The meeting discussed the second round of negotiations in Istanbul and the elimination of the consequences of the terrorist attacks in the Bryansk and Kursk regions. In addition, the head of the Ministry of Finance, Maksut Shadaev, spoke about the new Russian national messenger. The President asked for full support for this project.

Putin's reaction to the terrorist attacks in Ukraine

On June 4, Vladimir Putin held a video conference with members of the government. Although his main topic was ensuring technological sovereignty in the field of communication services, the President began the meeting with a report on the results of the second round of negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul, which took place on June 2.

Russian Presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky noted that the Russian side had submitted a memorandum with the conditions for concluding a long-term peace and ceasefire. In addition, the parties agreed on a 1,200-to-1,200 prisoner exchange, which is scheduled to take place between June 7-9. Russia also proposed to create a communication line to promptly resolve issues of urgent transfer of seriously wounded prisoners of war to each other outside the framework of general exchanges. The Russian delegation declared its readiness to transfer to Kiev more than 6 thousand bodies of the dead soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Russia is also ready to accept the bodies of Russian soldiers. The Russian Federation is considering the issue of family reunification – Kiev has handed over to Moscow a list of 339 Ukrainian children evacuated from the war zone.

At the same time, on the eve of the second round of negotiations, on the night of June 1, Ukraine committed a series of terrorist attacks on railway infrastructure in the Bryansk and Kursk regions.

Vladimir Putin, commenting on them, noted that what happened was a targeted attack on civilians, and according to all international norms such actions are called terrorism.

"This only confirms our fears that the already illegitimate regime in Kiev, which once seized power, is gradually degenerating into a terrorist organization, and its sponsors are becoming accomplices of terrorists," the president stressed.

Retreating along the entire line of contact amid huge losses, trying to intimidate Russia, the Kiev leadership turned to organizing terrorist acts. At the same time, they are asking for a suspension of hostilities for 30 or even 60 days, and they are asking for a summit meeting.

— But how can such meetings be held in these conditions? What is there to talk about? Who is negotiating with those who rely on terror, with terrorists? — the Russian leader asked. — And why should they be encouraged by providing a respite in hostilities, which will be used to pump up the regime with Western weapons, to continue violent mobilization and preparation of other terrorist acts similar to those carried out in the Bryansk and Kursk regions?

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in turn, noted that both rounds of negotiations had yielded concrete results, including the exchange of prisoners of war according to the "1000 for 1000" formula. Lavrov called Kiev's refusal to take a 2-3-day break to collect the bodies of the dead a grave mistake.

"Just as our initiatives on similar humanitarian pauses on the occasion of Easter and on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory were ignored," the minister stressed.

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, it is important not to succumb to "criminal provocations" from Kiev, which are aimed at disrupting negotiations. Finally, he concluded, it is necessary to use all means, including negotiations, to achieve its goals.

How are the consequences of terrorist attacks eliminated

Alexander Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, said that to date, the agency has initiated and is investigating three criminal cases of three terrorist attacks in the Bryansk and Kursk regions on railway infrastructure facilities. As a result of the tragedies, passenger and freight trains crashed, and civilians were killed and injured. In the first terrorist attack in the Bryansk region, 122 people were injured, seven more died. Experts have found out that a Ukrainian-made control unit was used to blow up bridges near Bryansk and Kursk.

From May 20 to May 25, Russian law enforcement agencies discovered and neutralized a Ukrainian sabotage group. As a result, the same Ukrainian-made blocks used to blow up the bridges were found and seized. Thus, according to Bastrykin, there is no doubt that all three terrorist attacks were organized by the special services of Ukraine.

Russian Minister of Health Mikhail Murashko said that almost immediately after receiving information about the tragedy in the Bryansk region, the agency increased the number of medical teams to help the victims to 17. On the spot, work was clearly coordinated with the participation of both the regional health system and Russian Railways funds.

Telemedicine consultations were conducted for all serious patients, and specialists from the Research Institute of Emergency Pediatric Surgery conducted work on three children. Six victims, including three children, were taken to clinics in Moscow.

"A four—month—old baby in serious condition with multiple injuries was delivered by an air ambulance helicopter," Murashko said.

The child's condition is now stable.

There are 35 people in hospital treatment, 11 of whom are already preparing for discharge. A total of 29 people were discharged, 56 people received outpatient care.

Leonid Roshal, a Russian surgeon, supplemented the minister's report, recalling how an injured child from Donbass was brought to their clinic in 2014.

"The boy, with injuries to both legs, amputation of his arms and a problem with his eyes, is a very difficult child," the surgeon noted.

As for the tragedy in Bryansk, all the doctors did an excellent job in it.

The governor of the Bryansk region, Alexander Bogomaz, said that all the victims were taken to regional hospitals, in one of which he is currently staying. 1.5 million rubles will be paid to families who lost a loved one, 600 thousand rubles to those who were seriously injured, and 300 thousand rubles for medium and light injuries.

Oleg Belozerov, Chairman of the Russian Railways Management Board, reported that roads and railways in the places of terrorist attacks are currently being actively restored. So, one of the roads in the Kursk region will be rebuilt within two months and will start working no later than August 2. As for assistance to the victims, Russian Railways provided them with food packages, sanitary and hygienic supplies and provided them with the necessary telephone service immediately after the attacks.

It was also decided to pay 2.2 million rubles from Russian Railways charitable funds to family members of the victims, 1 million rubles to hospitalized passengers with severe injuries, 500 thousand rubles to those with moderate and mild injuries, and 100 thousand rubles to passengers who sought medical help.

—At the moment, 55 payments have already been made in the amount of 36.5 million rubles, including five payments to the relatives of the deceased passengers," Belozerov stressed.

Deputy Chairman of the government Tatyana Golikova said that the cabinet is also ready to pay 1.1 million rubles to citizens with severe injuries, 627 thousand — with medium, 313 thousand — with light. Also, the government has opened "hotlines" for the prompt provision of social support measures to victims.

What is the new Russian national messenger?

After listening to reports on the situation surrounding the consequences of the Ukrainian terrorist attacks and negotiations with Ukraine, the President returned to the main topic of the meeting.

At the very beginning of his report, Maksut Shadaev, Minister of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, recalled that Russia is one of the few countries in the world that has a well—developed ecosystem of its own Internet services. He noted that 50 million people use the Russian Yandex browser every day, about 80% of the adult population of the country is registered on VKontakte and Odnoklassniki social networks, and 40 million families are regularly purchased in Russian marketplaces.

At the same time, starting in 2022, Russian digital platforms have faced numerous restrictions imposed on Russia by foreign companies. The Ministry of Finance reacted appropriately to this destructive activity. For example, in response to the massive blocking of Russian banks' mobile applications, VK, with government support, launched a domestic RuStore app store in the summer of 2022, through which blocked mobile applications can be downloaded to Android devices.

— Vladimir Vladimirovich, now this app store — ours, the Russian one — is installed on more than 80 million devices. 50 million Russian users turn to it once a month to update applications," the minister reported.

In addition, in response to the sanctions imposed by YouTube, Russian bloggers began to switch to the domestic sites VK Video and Rutube. After the well-known ChatGPT was launched with access restrictions for Russian users, Yandex and Sberbank launched their competitive applications in a few months, comparable in level to it.

The minister also stressed that today about 90 million Russians use foreign messengers every day. In turn, Russia also has its own equivalent, the national messenger of VK.

"This application is based on a new architecture, and machine learning technology is immediately integrated into it," Shadaev clarified.

According to him, citizens can use it to present digital documents, to affix an electronic signature, and it will be convenient for banks to interact with customers.

In addition, the messenger will be useful in the field of education. For example, school chats where students, parents, and teachers communicate can go there. It will also be possible to write applications and explanatory notes to the school in electronic form. Finally, the messenger will become a convenient way to receive public services.

— We can embed a so—called assistant or, now they say, a "digital assistant" into it, which will tell the user what requirements he must meet to receive a particular service, submit the necessary documents for him and, so to speak, provide a digital document confirming the fact of the service directly in the messenger, - explained The minister.

After finishing the report, Vladimir Putin addressed all the heads of government departments and asked them to provide full support to the Russian national messenger.