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Russian Foreign Ministry to respond to reports of Ukraine, OSCE on Crimea

Earlier on Monday, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko dismissed as "an outright lie" the propaganda materials concerning Russia’s policy towards Ukraine

MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry is preparing a response to the reports on Crimea prepared by the Ukrainian side in Geneva and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, Russian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova told the Rossiya 24 TV channel on Monday.

"Where were all these offices and organizations at the moment and why did they show no interest whatsoever in violations of a basic human right to one’s mother tongue [in Crimea, before its reunification with Russia]? "Of course, there will be [a response from the Russian Foreign Ministry]. Our experts are studying these reports and, of course, there will be a response," Zakharova said.

Earlier on Monday, speaker of Russia’s Federation Council Valentina Matviyenko dismissed as "an outright lie" the propaganda materials concerning Russia’s policy towards Ukraine circulated by the Ukrainian delegation at the 133rd session of the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva.

"No one in Geneva paid attention to this rubbish," she said. "Russia faces a tough information war," Matviyenko added.

Referring to the situation in Crimea, the Federation Council speaker recalled that the Black Sea peninsula had been visited by "numerous foreign delegations," and they were shocked by the fact that the real situation is a far cry from the way it is presented by the anti-Russian propaganda.

Matviyenko invited foreign journalists to visit Crimea to see everything with their own eyes. "We invite all those willing to come to Crimea, to Sevastopol. There are no tanks there [about which the propaganda materials write]," the speaker said.

The report of the OSCE mission on the human rights situation in Crimea was prepared in July and was circulated at a meeting in Warsaw in September. The report was prepared by the OSCE office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights and the High Commissioner on National Minorities.