Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has accused Western media of running an information campaign against Moscow, saying unverified reports about Russian drones operating over European countries are being used to create political tensions.
Speaking at the fourth international forum, “Dialogue about Fakes 4.0,” in Moscow on Tuesday, Lavrov said Western media had increasingly linked unidentified drone incidents in Europe to Russia without presenting sufficient evidence. He claimed that some of these reports later showed that the drones were Ukrainian or their origin could not be established, according to Anadolu Agency.
Lavrov said such reporting had serious political consequences. Referring to Germany, he claimed that Moscow’s diplomats had been expelled and Russian diplomatic and cultural facilities restricted as a result of what he described as a “fake” information campaign.
According to Lavrov, the pattern was familiar: an allegation is quickly reported, amplified by the media and turned into a wider political crisis, while alternative accounts receive less attention. He also accused Western media and entertainment industries of encouraging negative stereotypes about Russia.
Lavrov further criticised what he said was limited Western coverage of alleged Ukrainian attacks on civilians in Russian cities. He referred to an incident in Starobelsk, which he described as a “terrorist attack,” and questioned why it had not received greater attention from Western governments and media.
He also revisited the 2018 poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury, Britain. Lavrov accused London of failing to provide Moscow with information about the case and said Russia’s requests for access to the Skripals had gone unanswered.
Drawing a comparison with the poisoning of opposition figure Alexey Navalny in 2020, Lavrov said Germany had also failed to meet Russian requests for information and medical evidence.
Lavrov argued that tensions between Russia and the West had been building for years, saying Moscow’s independent foreign policy under President Vladimir Putin had contributed to the growing confrontation. He pointed to more than 30,000 sanctions imposed on Russia as evidence of what he described as a long-running campaign of pressure against Moscow.
