The Pan Afrikanist Watchman

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will attend a BRICS summit scheduled to take place in Kazan on October 22-24. The 16th summit of the group, it will be held in Russia, which holds the BRICS chairmanship this year. The theme of the summit is Strengthening Multilateralism for Just Global Development and Security.

The heads of state will have a busy agenda. They will discuss global and regional issues and the results of cooperation within the framework of their countries’ strategic partnerships in politics, the economy, culture and the humanitarian area. They will also review the results of their security interaction, including the work of their high representatives and relevant agencies in this sphere. They will focus on reforming the international financial system and enhancing the role of BRICS countries, as well as promoting interbank cooperation and mutual settlements in national currencies. Another important item on their agenda will concern the establishment of the new category of BRICS partner states.

The main results of the summit will be set out in the final declaration, including the member states’ consolidated approach to current international and regional issues and the further development of BRICS.

A meeting in the BRICS Plus/Outreach format, scheduled for October 24, will be attended by delegations from over 30 developing countries, in particular, those chairing regional cooperation mechanisms, as well as the heads of executive bodies of international organisations. The main theme of the meeting is BRICS and the Global South: Building a Better World Together. The meeting will focus on the current cooperation between the Global Majority countries and on enhancing their role in decision-making on international issues. Other items will include the situation in hotspots, primarily the Middle East, sustainable development, and food and energy security.

Substantive information regarding these issues has been posted by the Presidential Executive Office and the Foreign Ministry. Our representatives and ambassadors are contributing by giving interviews, speaking about the upcoming events at various venues and in the media, holding news conferences and briefings, and answering questions. We will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will also hold a number of bilateral and multilateral meetings with our partners on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. Updates on his schedule will be posted on the Ministry’s website and social media accounts.

The BRICS Business Council annual meeting and the BRICS Business Forum

The annual meeting of the BRICS Business Council and the BRICS Business Forum is scheduled to take place in Moscow on October 17-18.

The BRICS Business Council serves as one of the principal mechanisms for corporate interaction within the association. During the event on October 17, the annual report, encompassing proposals and initiatives from the Council’s working groups, will be approved. This document is set to be presented to the BRICS heads of state at their  meeting in Kazan.

On October 18, the BRICS Business Forum will convene. Traditionally held ahead of the BRICS Summit, the forum serves as a vital platform for fostering connections among representatives of the business community of the BRICS nations. This year’s panel discussions will concentrate on financial and investment co-operation, international trade and logistics connectivity, agricultural business development and the enhancement of food security, sustainable energy transition, and the role of technological cooperation in advancing the ESG agenda. This agenda underscores a concept that emphasises three primary criteria against which corporate performance is evaluated. It is anticipated that leaders of the BRICS nations will address the plenary session.

In addition, the BRICS Solutions Awards and the BRICS Best Women’s Startup Competition awards ceremonies will be held within the framework of the Forum.

The 8th World Congress of Compatriots Living Abroad

On October 30-31, 2024, Moscow will host the 8th World Congress of Compatriots Living Abroad, an event to be attended by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The Congress, held under the slogan Together with Russia, will bring together approximately 400 leaders and activists from Russian communities across 103 countries. It will also see the participation of heads of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, central and regional government agencies, non-governmental organisations, representatives of traditional religions, journalists, and scholars.

The event’s programme features three plenary sessions alongside five thematic sections, designed to address the most pressing concerns facing our foreign community. These discussions will encompass the preservation of traditional and family values, the safeguarding of cultural and historical heritage, protection of the rights and legitimate interests of compatriots, promotion of the Russian language and education, engagement of youth in diaspora activities, development of Russian-language media, and matters concerning relocation to the Russian Federation. A focal point of the Congress will be the preparations for the commemorative activities marking the 80th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

In the face of anti-Russia sentiment and Russophobia propagated in the nations of the collective West, our diaspora remains more robust and united than ever. Our compatriots abroad are resolute in continuing their collaborative efforts for the prosperity of Russia. In referencing Russia, we mean our  history, culture, and contribution to the collective cause of peace, security, and the preservation of civilisational achievements, which represent genuine values over superficial ones. Our compatriots are committed to further strengthening ties with their historical homeland in this context.

Sergey Lavrov to take part in Eurasian Security Conference

On October 31 and November 1, Minsk will host the second International Conference on Eurasian Security. The Russian delegation will be led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. In his remarks at the plenary session, the Minister will focus on steps to implement the initiative, put forth by the President of Russia, to develop an architecture of equal and indivisible security in Eurasia. He will present Russia’s assessments of the current state of affairs in the sphere of continental security.

Ukraine crisis update

Ukrainian Nazis continue terrorising Russian civilians by shelling and attacking them with UAVs every day.

On October 8-16, 567 munitions and 267 drones were fired at more than 80 communities in the Belgorod Region, resulting in 30 civilians injured, including a two-year-old girl. A civilian who was wounded as a result of shelling of Yasnye Zori on August 20, and a woman who suffered from an UAV attack in Ustinka on October 12, died in the Belgorod city hospital.

Residential buildings, social facilities, and industrial and agricultural buildings were damaged. Using UAVs, the Ukrainian Armed Forces scattered Lepestok mines in ​​the Krasny Oktyabr village, one of which caused an explosion of a civilian car on October 14. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

Over the course of a week, five people were killed and 25 wounded, including two children, as a result of dozens of daily attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces using 155 mm shells, including cluster munitions, as well as HIMARS, MLRS and UAV strikes. There have been repeated hits in the Petrovsky District of Donetsk and Gorlovka, where a school, a shop and a market were damaged.

On October 13, a child was seriously injured when a toy mined by Bandera followers found under a bench in a public garden, near a monument to Alexander Pushkin, exploded in Stakhanov, the LPR. I do not believe there are many ISIS members (a banned terrorist organisation) who would come up with such an idea.

On the same day, two people were killed and one wounded as a result of an UAV attack on a civilian car in Lisichansk. Four others were injured during the shelling of a market in Kremennaya.

This is far from a complete list of the Kiev regime’s atrocities. Russian investigative bodies are recording all of them. All those involved will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.

Now I would like to speak about the atrocities committed by Ukrainian militants and foreign mercenaries in the Kursk Region. Russian law enforcement agencies are examining the testimony of a captured militant regarding cases when Bandera followers abused and murdered a Russian prisoner of war due to his wife’s refusal to comply with their demands, including humiliating ones. The Ukrainian Nazis first shot our fighter in the leg, and then shot him dead while filming their vile crime and the hero’s last words to his wife.

Russian servicemen reported that gold teeth were extracted in a UAV workshop abandoned by militants of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Novoaleksandrovka, the Kursk Region, which apparently belonged to the locals they killed.

This is the characteristic trace of the Nazis, who not only mocked and killed people over eighty years ago, but also literally dismembered them: skin, hair, crowns, and teeth separately. What more is required to make UNESCO, UN agencies, the OSCE and other international human rights organisations (that is what they call themselves) of all types in the West to raise their eyes from their manuals and see what’s really going on?

This is the dirty work that Gestapo members did in concentration camps. Today, the Ukrainian neo-Nazis are clearly striving to imitate them in every way. They have the same heroes (Stepan Bandera and Roman Shukhevych) and the same emblems (swastikas, SS symbols, wolf heads, mouths, and muzzles).

One gets the impression that this is not enough for them and they want to surpass their idols from the Third Reich in every regard.