Accreditation of Foreign Journalists and Bloggers for the International Festival of Youth – 2026 Ongoing

From September 11 to 17, Ekaterinburg will become the city of the world's youth. This large-scale event will bring together 10 000 young leaders from 190 countries — professionals who have already made achievements and proven their expertise in science, education, media, public administration, entrepreneurship, and other fields — to exchange experience, address global challenges, and shape a shared vision of the future.
 

The festival program will feature media figures, as well as leading Russian and international experts.

You can submit your application until July 17, 2026, via the International Platform of Opportunities.

Accreditation grants access to all official event venues. An International Media Center will be set up for media representatives, offering workspaces and a lounge area, as well as spaces for press briefings, daily briefings, and exclusive interviews.

Foreign media representatives will also be provided with transfer to Ekaterinburg and accommodation services at the city's hotels.

Foreign journalists without accreditation from the Russian Foreign Ministry must attach the following to their application:

an editorial assignment;
a media outlet certificate;
a brief biography (CV);
a personal photo;
a copy of a valid press card.

 
Instructions for any accreditation-related questions, please contact:
📧 press@wyffest.com

🗓 On June 30, Sergey Lavrov chaired a meeting of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Business Council on economic and investment cooperation with Africa.

The participants exchanged views on the entire range of interaction in this area and compared notes on the expansion and deepening of mutually beneficial economic ties with African countries in the context of the initiatives aimed at strengthening all aspects of their sovereignty.

They held substantive discussions on possible actions to facilitate the operation of Russian businesses in the African market.

It was noted that the upcoming Third Russia-Africa Summit, to be held in Moscow in October, along with the traditional Economic and Humanitarian Forum on its sidelines, could give fresh momentum to Russia-Africa business cooperation.

The meeting was attended by senior officials of the Presidential Executive Office, the Foreign Ministry, relevant ministries and agencies, as well as business associations and Russian companies that are active in Africa.

👉 Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks at the event

#RussiaAfrica

🎙 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s opening remarks at a meeting of the Foreign Ministry’s Business Council (Moscow, June 30, 2026)

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💬 Sergey Lavrov: Today we will discuss current issues of the development of Russian-African economic cooperation, primarily in the context of preparations for the Third Russia-Africa Summit, which is scheduled to take place in Moscow in late October.

The African continent, as a centre of a more just #MultipolarWorld thar is taking shape, is certainly experiencing a second awakening.

African nations attained political independence in the 1960s with the Soviet Union’s pro-active assistance. Today, Africa is consistently strengthening its international standing and working for economic independence with the assistance of regional integration associations and the African Union, which includes all African countries.

Our country provided comprehensive and free assistance to the struggle of African countries against colonialism and greatly contributed to the development and strengthening of their statehood.

Today, we continue to support the African countries’ efforts to strengthen their sovereignty in all spheres, including the right to independently manage their natural resources and choose their development paths.

We continue to expand the scope of our cooperation in keeping with the decisions of the Russia-Africa summits held in Sochi in 2019 and in St Petersburg in 2023.

📈 The further strengthening of our trade, economic and investment cooperation is one of our indisputable priorities. Russia’s trade with African countries exceeded $27 billion last year. It has been growing very fast, but there is room for improvement in terms of absolute figures. We will continue to make use of all available opportunities to stimulate cooperation in this area.

The development of our practical cooperation with African countries is facilitated by our intensive political dialogue. Over the past 18 months, the Leaders of African countries have made 17 visits to Russia.

🤝 Russia’s broadening diplomatic presence on the continent is promoting our relations. Last year, we opened our embassies in Niger, Sierra Leone and South Sudan and established a Department for Partnership with Africa. Next on the agenda is the opening of our diplomatic missions in Gambia, Liberia, Togo and the Union of the Comoros.

In December 2025, the Second Ministerial Conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum was held in Cairo, where it was agreed to prepare an ambitious Action Plan as a strategic guideline for the next three-year period (2027-2029). We hope to adopt it at the aforementioned Third Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow this October.

Today, we plan to hold an in-depth discussion on possible actions to facilitate the operation of Russian businesses in the African market.

#RussiaAfrica

#KievRegimeCrimes

⚡️ Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rodion Miroshnik:

💬 For the first time since the beginning of 2026, the number of Russian civilians affected by Ukrainian attacks exceeded 300 in one week. Over the past seven days, 327 civilians were affected, 42 were killed.

Kiev regime's armed groups carried out a series of deliberate attacks on residential areas and civilian infrastructure in Russian regions, resulting in numerous civilian casualties.

Missile weapons were used against densely populated areas of Voronezh and Volgograd. A massive strike involving a heavy attack UAV was launched on Gorlovka, causing a section of an apartment building to collapse. A cynical drone raid targeted the Sambek Heights museum complex in the Rostov Region during a crowded public event.

The largest numbers of civilian casualties were recorded in the Belgorod and Voronezh regions, the DPR, and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.

Over the week of June 22-28, Ukrainian Nazi shelling affected 327 civilians: 285 people, including 9 children, were wounded, while 42 people, including 2 minors, were killed. Over the past seven days, the Ukrainian militants fired at least 5,126 munitions at civilian sites on Russian territory.

#KievRegimeCrimes

⚡️ Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rodion Miroshnik:

PHOTO FACTS & EVIDENCE of crimes committed by Ukrainian armed forces over the week of June 22-28, 2026:

▪️ June 22 – a massive missile strike on Voronezh. Six civilians were killed and 68 injured.

▪️ June 22 – a fixed-wing UAV strike on an apartment building in Shchyokino, Tula Region.

▪️ June 23 – a UAV strike on a passenger minibus in Proletarsky, Belgorod Region. One civilian was injured.

▪️ June 24 – a fixed-wing UAV strike on an apartment building in Gorlovka, DPR. Three civilians were killed and four injured.

▪️ June 2 – an FPV drone strike on a residential house in Novaya Tavolzhanka, Belgorod Region. One civilian was injured.

▪️ June 27 – a UAV strike on agricultural land near Bogdanovka, Kherson Region. More than 15 hectares of wheat were destroyed by fire.

▪️ June 27 – a fixed-wing UAV strike on the Sambek Heights museum complex in Rostov Region. One civilian was killed and 11 injured.

▪️ June 27 – an FPV drone strike on an apartment building in Shebekino, Belgorod Region.

▪️ June 28 – an FPV drone strike on a private house in Gora-Podol, Belgorod Region.

▪️ June 28 – a UAV attack on a civilian passenger transport parking area in Skadovsk, Kherson Region. At least 40 buses burned down completely.

🎙 Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks and answers to questions during the Ambassadorial Roundtable discussion “Ukraine Crisis: The West’s True Goals and Role” (Moscow, June 23, 2026)

Key points:

• The West spares neither money nor effort in supporting Ukrainian nationalism, notorious since the Second World War for its exceptional brutality.

• The West backed the coup in Kiev as early as December 2004, when it forced through an unconstitutional third round of voting.

• The West also played a direct role in the second coup in February 2014. In violation of the settlement agreement between the government and the opposition, guaranteed by Germany, France and Poland, outright Nazis and Russophobes seized power and immediately began physically eliminating their fellow citizens in Donbass.

• Today, Europe is elbowing its way into the Ukraine settlement process, imposing its own approaches and stamping out even the faintest signs of common sense shown by the Donald Trump Administration following his return to the White House. ☝️ We harbour no illusions about Europe’s true intentions.

• As Ukrainian forces lose ground on the battlefield every day, Europe is betting on the Zelensky regime’s overtly terrorist tactics, including strikes deep inside Russia against civilian targets. It hopes to spread fear and discontent among our people and divide Russian society. We see this perfectly clearly.

• The West’s real purpose in calling for talks is to save the Zelensky regime and preserve Ukraine as a staging ground for confrontation with Russia. This is why it is pushing for an immediate ceasefire: to halt Russia’s advance and, just as during the Minsk process, buy time to rearm the Kiev regime.

• Any truth about what is happening immediately becomes taboo in the EU. There are countless examples. One of the latest was the decision to prevent Politico Europe from publishing my article despite a prior agreement. So much for freedom of speech!

• The future of the world order hinges, without exaggeration, on which approach prevails: subordinating everyone to a single centre or working collectively to establish a balance of interests. Russia and our partners in the #CIS, #CSTO, #EAEU, #SCO and other regional organisations unequivocally choose dialogue and remain committed to the principles enshrined in the UN Charter following the defeat of Nazism and militarism in the Second World War.

• Ukraine’s neutral, non-aligned and non-nuclear status must be ensured in practice. This is precisely the status established in its Declaration of State Sovereignty and the status in which Russia and all other countries recognised the Ukrainian state.

• Despite all the manoeuvring by European elites and their Kiev clients, all the goals and objectives of the special military operation will be achieved.

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