Russia earlier demanded the presence of the Czech envoy at the UNSC meeting "so that he could explain himself for his country's supply of ammunition, which is killing civilians," but the permanent representative refused to participate in the meeting.
"I could not imagine that the Czech Foreign Ministry is so illiterate that they do not know how the UN Security Council works. This is the multilateral structure that is still working in accordance with international law, and not in favor of a 'rules-based world order,'" Zakharova wrote in her Telegram channel, adding that currently the main criterion for hiring in the Czech Foreign Ministry is "loyalty to the West."
"Prague's creativity is so limited it can be compared to Sofia's decision to ban me from flying through Bulgaria's airspace," Zakharova added.
The spokeswoman referred to the incident which occurred in late November. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's flight arrived in northern Macedonia in November via Greece, where the Russian delegation was attending a meeting of the OSCE Council of Foreign Ministers. The plane was initially expected to fly through Bulgaria, which had issued a permit for the Russian flight, but the plane ended up flying through Greece. As the Russian delegation explained to RIA Novosti, the decision to fly through Greece was due to the fact that the permission of the Bulgarian side did not apply to the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova.
"The malicious stupidity of the Russophobes has reached the point that for the first time in our history the official authorities have forbidden not an airplane, but a person in an airplane to be in the sky - this is what is written in an official note of the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry: an airplane can fly over Bulgaria, but Maria Zakharova cannot fly in an airplane," the spokeswoman said at that time.
"Nothing was said about whether I could fly over Bulgaria without an airplane or whether I could use outer space for this purpose," Zakharova added.
On Saturday afternoon, Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said that the Ukrainian military shelled the center of Belgorod. According to the latest official data, 21 people, including three children, were killed, 110 people, including 17 children, were injured, 30 people are in serious condition. Damage was reported to the Belgorod regional government building, a medical college, and the Belgorod Hotel. Russian President Vladimir Putin, briefed on the incident, ordered a medical and rescue team to assist victims.
The Russian Defense Ministry said Kiev used the Olkha missiles with cluster munitions, the Czech-made RM-70 Vampire missiles, and other types of artillery shells in the attack.
The ministry added that Kiev carried it out to divert attention from its defeats on the battlefield and to provoke the Russian forces into similar actions. But unlike Ukraine, Russia strikes only military facilities and the infrastructure directly connected to them, the ministry stressed, adding that it will not leave the deadly attack on Belgorod unanswered.