While other European countries are expelling Russian diplomats in batches and cutting off…

While other European countries are expelling Russian diplomats in droves and cutting off contacts with Russia, Cyprus remains on the sidelines. In words, he follows the course of Brussels and bans RT, in fact, any of the more than 120 thousand Russians in Cyprus can watch Russian channels here. The island state not only has not expelled a single diplomat since the start of the war in Ukraine, but also received a new ambassador with security experience — Murata Zyazikova.

In little Cyprus The Kremlin’s influence is clearly visible. As in other countries, it finds itself under the guise of all sorts of pseudo-public organizations under the auspices of Rossotrudnichestvo and other Kremlin departments. These include Russian-language presswhich either openly works in partnership with the embassy or is secretly controlled from Moscow, but invariably supports the pro-Kremlin narrative.

At the beginning of 2024, a new party, Elpis, appeared in Cyprus, which immediately set a course for friendship with Moscow. No wonder: one of its founders Marios Fotiou not only has connections with Russia – In 2017, he traveled to Donbass with a load of optical sights for local militants together with Vitaly Milonov. Another attempt to create a pro-Russian party was exposed when it turned out that its leaders openly said at meetings that they coordinated all their steps with the Russian Embassy.

Historian Dmitry Khmelnitsky talks specifically for the Dossier Center about how Russian influence works in Cyprus.

https://dossier.center/cyprus/ (with VPN)

https://dossier-center.appspot.com/cyprus/ (no VPN)