The Russian Embassy in Seoul was upset by the publication of the article “Ukrainian Exhibition Marks ‘Revolution of Dignity’” (The Korea Herald, Dec. 29, 2014), which incriminates Russia with violating Ukrainian sovereignty. I would like to set forth our position on this issue.

First of all, we were disappointed that groundless accusations of some “Russian aggression” in the eastern part of Ukraine were pulled out of the Ukrainian Ambassador Vasyl Marmazov’s speech and quoted. I want to remind, that Russia is not a party involved in the domestic Ukrainian conflict and that there is no legal evidence of the Russian army participating in any warfare on the territory of that country. The only thing that Russia is doing in the East of Ukraine is providing humanitarian aid to the people there. We deeply respect the freedom of speech, but, in my opinion, such an esteemed daily as The Korea Herald should avoid quoting the statements, which has nothing to do with reality.

Secondly, I would like to express our sincere regret, that among all the photos of the Ukrainian protests this year, your newspaper has chosen to publish the one with the insulting and inappropriate slogan towards the President of Russia Vladimir Putin. We believe that such poor choice of images does not contribute to the strengthening of further fruitful cooperation between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Korea, which is highly beneficial for both of our countries.

By Oleg Davydov: Charge d’affaires ad interim of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in South Korea