Embassy Comment on disinformation in the British media about the Russian Embassy School in London

The Embassy is appalled by the slanderous article of September 6th in The Times (and subsequently in the Daily Mail) on the activities of the Russian Embassy School in London.

The flashy allegations of "militarisation" of the educational process, elevated to the headlines, are provocative in nature and based on the authors' deliberate distortion of information from publicly available documents regulating the activities of the school. This disinformation, in turn, is heavily laced with primitive Russophobic stereotypes.

The Russian Embassy School in London is a certified civil educational institution that provides services in full compliance with Russian and British legislation.

It has been operating for over half a century and did not cease to function even at the height of the Cold War. Its impeccable reputation is based on high educational standards, the exceptional professionalism of the faculty members and a tailored approach to pupils.

In their publications the relevant British media seem to be intent on destroying this reputation, which has been built up over decades.

This further highlights the steadily degrading journalistic standards of the once respectable British media. In an effort to sustain the fading anti-Russian campaign, which the local public has largely lost interest in, some reporters do not shy away from low-quality attacks on Russian schoolchildren, their parents and teachers.

This situation is in stark contrast to Russia, where conditions have been created and are maintained for the successful operation of a considerable number of English-language educational institutions.

The Embassy is obliged to consider this action in the context of bilateral Russia-UK relations as a violation of the provisions of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, as well as the basic norms of journalistic ethics, the principles of privacy and personal data protection.

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