DISINFO: It is strange to hear that Russia 'unjustly' owns a vast and resource-rich region as Siberia
SUMMARY
Statements like "Russia 'unjustly' owns a vast and resource-rich region as Siberia" are sometimes made in "public speeches".
The quote has been repeatedly attributed to former US secretary of state Madeleine Albright, in which she purportedly claimed that “the colossal natural resources of Siberia should not belong to Russia alone.”
RESPONSE
Recurrent disinformation message that the Western countries are coveting Siberian natural resources and want to deprive Russia of them. This claim is in line with a long tradition of quoting made-up statements - some pure fantasy-, this time Madeleine Albright is targeted.
The origin of the quote is well-established as coming from a retired FSO security officer, Boris Ratnikov, who declared that he reconstructed the brain of the former US secretary of state and could read quotes inside, explaining this by parapsychology. The interview was published in 2006 in the government daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta. Although parapsychology is not a science and doesn’t produce trustworthy results it had important resonance in Russian politics.
Nine years later, in 2015, in the daily Newspaper Kommersant Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Kremlin’s National Security Council (and former head of the FSB) still referred to it.
In December 2014 Vladimir Putin already referred to this “quote” without naming Madeleine Albright but then also no one could think of a precise reference.
Read also related stories: Russia's huge natural resources are the reason why the neo-liberal world is fighting against it, The West is using Navalny to access Russia's resources, West attacks the institution of family in Slavic countries, aims at Russian resources