Kremlin's Simonyan claims Russian rights over historic lands
Margarita Simonyan, one of the most well-known Kremlin propagandists and a favorite of Putin, called for the recovery of "eternally Russian lands" that Lithuania and Poland took from Russia in the 14th century.
If we look at our history, we have fought for centuries, from the time of the Mongol yoke, to reclaim our native lands—our own. Lithuania and Poland took over our western territories, taking advantage of our weakness during the Tatar-Mongol yoke. We must reclaim them," said Simonyan on the program "Evening with Vladimir Solovyov" on the channel "Rossiya 1."
Putin's favorite words were quoted by many Russian media, eagerly adding, as the ura.ru service did, a list of lands supposedly taken by Poland and Lithuania. Thus, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, included Black Ruthenia with Grodno, Novogrudok, Slonim, and the Polotsk Principality, which are currently located in Belarus, an ally of Russia. In addition, the Kievan Principality, Volhynia, and Podolia lands became part of modern-day Ukraine. There is also mention of the temporarily annexed Smolensk Principality, which is now part of Russia.
Simonyan: Russia will not give up its lands
URA.ru also states that Poland engaged in territorial expansion at the expense of Russian lands, especially after the Union of Krewo in 1385, when an agreement was reached to unite with Lithuania against a common enemy—the Teutonic Order and Moscow. According to them, the Poles "appropriated" the Halych-Volyn Principality and Western Podolia.
In her conversation with Solovyov, the chief Kremlin propagandist emphasized that the Russian Federation will not take away other people's lands. However, she stressed that it would not give up on its own.
