MOSCOW, April 19. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has railed against the so-called "Pulitzer Prize" reports on Russia by the New York Times as utter propaganda.

"I cannot fail to congratulate our counterparts in the Moscow office of the New York Times," she stated. "A momentous event has occurred - they received the Pulitzer Prize for a series of reports in 2016 about our country. The main conclusion - and this is something prizes are awarded for now - there is no difference between post-Stalinist Russia and modern Russia. All the 62 years are a continuous tragedy."

According to Zakharova, the fact that the Pulitzer Prize has been awarded to the New York Times makes one wonder what role the US mainstream media has in its smear campaign against Russia.

"Real participants of the propaganda [campaign], true propagandists," she maintained.

The Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting was awarded to the New York Times on April 10 for reports on Russia’s foreign policy. The authors critically assessed the methods allegedly used by Moscow to achieve its goals on the world stage.