This tragic incident has triggered an entire wave of pain, compassion and sympathy in Russian society as well as all over the world. I have already offered my personal condolences to the families, colleagues and friends of the deceased Russian journalists who were visiting the Central African Republic. And now, I would like to officially offer our profound condolences to them. I would now like to brief you on the efforts being made by the Foreign Ministry and Russian diplomats to investigate into the death of the Russian journalists and to repatriate their bodies. Initial investigation results show that the journalists were attacked by unknown assailants and were killed while trying to resist them. I would like to remind you that all the findings, even preliminary ones, will be voiced during the investigation. We can only provide information that can be published, including with the consent of investigative agencies.

On July 30, general elections were held in the Republic of Zimbabwe in which citizens voted for presidential nominees, MPs and local government officials. Twenty three candidates competed for the position of head of state, including current President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Twenty two political parties took part in the elections. Voter turnout exceeded 75 percent.

We continue to closely monitor the fate of Russian citizen Maria Butina, arrested in Washington on July 15. Russian Embassy employees have visited her in prison, and have attended the court sessions where a measure of restraint and other procedural issues were determined, including yesterday. We have sent a resolute protest to the US State Department against the actions taken against her, including the severe psychological pressure she was subjected to.

The Foreign Ministry has repeatedly sought to shed light on the operations of this organisation. Financed by western sponsors, the White Helmets were behind the most resonant provocations that occurred in the course of the Syrian conflict: staging faked chemical attacks, including the April 7 incident in Douma as the most recent example, producing staged videos of the pretended shelling victims from residential neighbourhoods, and spreading fake reports about hospitals destroyed by Syrian or Russian airstrikes. In fact, for several years now this group has played the unfortunate role of a strike force in the information war not only against Syria, but also against Russia, and has been quite successful at it. To be honest, it has been waging this information warfare against the entire international community, which has long made a choice in its development of democracy, human rights, media freedom, and renounced provocations, or at least opted for heading in this direction.

Russia’s ambassadors and permanent representatives will come to Moscow for the traditional biannual meeting on July 19-20. The meeting will include plenary sessions and theme-based panels which will be used to review the key tasks facing Russian diplomacy such as ensuring national security, creating favourable external environment for the country’s development, promoting and protecting Russia’s national interests, including the interests of its citizens and businesses, based on international law, the principles of justice and equal and mutually respectful cooperation.