https://video.echelon.pl/videos/watch/7de635a9-c36e-4489-ac7a-d3f99fede633 This interview with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov on ABC News was expected to be yet another opportunity for Moscow to present its narratives without interruption or inconvenient questions. However, the journalist thwarted this plan somewhat. He started by asking about civilian casualties. Ryabkov answered with brutal honesty, saying that they did not like what they were doing, but that the Ukrainian population must accept that Russia would enslave them by military means or by a "diplomatic deal". According to Ryabkov, the only alternative acceptable to Putin is for the Ukrainian population to surrender and become Russia's property. Then, at 06:00, the journalist asked Ryabkov about the sham referendums, directly referring to his ridiculous claim that a staged 'referendum' conducted in an occupied village could decide the fate of an entire region, including a city with a population of a million (such as Zaporizhzhia), which has never been occupied by Russia. Ryabkov then started a Putin-style incoherent lecture about 'history' and 'Russian lands', as if this somehow justifies Russia's blatant violation of the international agreements it has signed. At 07:30, the journalist mentioned his personal experience in Kharkiv, which he described as a "predominantly Russian-speaking town". Putin frequently referred to this town as one of the main places where the Russian minority required "protection from Russia" and "liberation". The journalist quoted local residents whose relatives had been killed and whose houses had been destroyed by Russian missiles. They asked bitterly, 'What am I being liberated from — my wife and my house? Children being liberated from their mothers?' Ryabkov once again answered with visible confusion, saying that he was sorry for any personal tragedies, but that 'these people must accept' that Russia wanted 'some of them' (he then quickly corrected himself to 'most of them') to want to live 'where they belong', i.e. in Russia. If you ever wanted a case study in the modern-day enslavement of entire populations, look no further. From 14:00 the journalist also asks about how anyone could trust Russia after it has consistently violated every single signed and internationally registered agreements from the past. Ryabkov evades this question by by entering a quasi-legal debate about the meaning of Budapest Memorandum, while ignoring all treaties Russia signed since. Even there he lies, saying that the Memorandum "did not say anything about recognising sovereignty" (point 1 says literally "Respect the signatory's independence and sovereignty in the existing borders"). Wed, 22 Apr 2026 15:27:09 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://video.echelon.pl https://video.echelon.pl/client/assets/images/icons/icon-512x512.png https://video.echelon.pl/videos/watch/7de635a9-c36e-4489-ac7a-d3f99fede633 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://video.echelon.pl/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.