Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs under the hashtag, No Statute of Limitations
The formal documentation from Russian Foreign affairs tell the history of My Lai (Sơn Mỹ). No Statute of Limitations as a hashtag tells clearly what they think – it is a warning. This historical rendering was immediately followed by a Foreign Affairs Statement, which follows hereunder.
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On March 16, 1968, soldiers of the United States Army carried out a massacre in the rural community of My Lai (Sơn Mỹ) in Vietnam’s Quang Ngai Province, carrying out one of the most horrific massacres of civilians during the Vietnam War.
American soldiers brutally killed more than 500 civilians, including 173 children and 182 women (17 of them pregnant).
On the morning of March 16, Charlie Company entered the village as part of a search-and-destroy mission. They had been instructed to treat anyone remaining in the area as Viet Cong fighters. Despite facing no resistance, US troops opened fire on unarmed villagers, including women and children. As they advanced, they threw grenades into huts, tortured people, and executed them on the spot. One notorious episode involved Lt William Calley, who ordered dozens of villagers to be herded into an irrigation ditch and machine-gunned.
Initially, Washington presented the events as a “major victory”, claiming hundreds of enemy combatants killed. Testimonies from witnesses to these atrocities were ignored for a long time while the American military machine attempted to conceal its crimes in Vietnam.
Only in November 1969 did journalist Seymour Hersh publish his investigation (https://www.pulitzer.org/article/i-sent-them-good-boy-and-they-made-him-murderer), while photographs taken by Army photographer Ronald L. Haeberle revealed the truth (https://time.com/5200422/my-lai-massacre-ron-haeberle-photographs/)to the world. The images showed murdered civilians — peasants, women, and children with gunshot wounds to the head, mutilated bodies — while nearby American soldiers laughed and set homes on fire.
An international scandal erupted. Yet only one person was ultimately convicted — Lt William Calley. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was pardoned after just three and a half years of house arrest. He lived to the age of 80, dying in April 2024 in the state of Florida.
❗️ My Lai massacre remains a grim reminder of how the United States wages its wars. The mass killings of civilians perpetrated by US forces abroad often goes unnoticed — or is dismissed as “collateral damage”…
Why should the Russians publish this now, as part of their formal Foreign Affairs Documentation.
On March 16, 1968, soldiers of the United States Army carried out a massacre in the rural community of My Lai (Sơn Mỹ) in Vietnam’s Quang Ngai Province, carrying out one of the most horrific massacres of civilians during the Vietnam War.
American soldiers brutally killed more than 500 civilians, including 173 children and 182 women (17 of them pregnant).
On the morning of March 16, Charlie Company entered the village as part of a search-and-destroy mission. They had been instructed to treat anyone remaining in the area as Viet Cong fighters. Despite facing no resistance, US troops opened fire on unarmed villagers, including women and children. As they advanced, they threw grenades into huts, tortured people, and executed them on the spot. One notorious episode involved Lt William Calley, who ordered dozens of villagers to be herded into an irrigation ditch and machine-gunned.
Initially, Washington presented the events as a “major victory”, claiming hundreds of enemy combatants killed. Testimonies from witnesses to these atrocities were ignored for a long time while the American military machine attempted to conceal its crimes in Vietnam.
Only in November 1969 did journalist Seymour Hersh publish his investigation (https://www.pulitzer.org/article/i-sent-them-good-boy-and-they-made-him-murderer), while photographs taken by Army photographer Ronald L. Haeberle revealed the truth (https://time.com/5200422/my-lai-massacre-ron-haeberle-photographs/)to the world. The images showed murdered civilians — peasants, women, and children with gunshot wounds to the head, mutilated bodies — while nearby American soldiers laughed and set homes on fire.
An international scandal erupted. Yet only one person was ultimately convicted — Lt William Calley. He was sentenced to life imprisonment but was pardoned after just three and a half years of house arrest. He lived to the age of 80, dying in April 2024 in the state of Florida.
❗️ My Lai massacre remains a grim reminder of how the United States wages its wars. The mass killings of civilians perpetrated by US forces abroad often goes unnoticed — or is dismissed as “collateral damage”…
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Statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry regarding the escalation of the crisis in the Middle East (https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/2086484/)
❗️ Through their treacherous and unprovoked attack on Iran, the United States and Israel have unleashed an unprecedented spiral of violence in the Middle East (https://t.me/MFARussia/28511), with no end in sight.
The toll of victims of the American-Israeli aggression runs into the hundreds and thousands, with irreparable damage inflicted upon civilian infrastructure. Neighbouring countries are also suffering from retaliatory Iranian strikes, while shipping along the vital global economic route through the Strait of Hormuz has been paralysed.
Once a stable and prosperous region, the Persian Gulf is rapidly descending into a maelstrom of chaos and uncertainty. The economic repercussions of the reckless venture initiated by Washington and Tel Aviv are being felt ever more acutely far beyond the conflict zone – indeed, on a global scale.
Meanwhile, instead of seeking paths to de-escalation and a return to negotiations, there is a further intensification of mutual hostility, with increasingly lethal and destructive strikes being carried out.
☝️ We reiterate our resolute call to all parties for an immediate cessation of hostilities and a shift of the situation onto a political and diplomatic track.
Above all, attacks on civilian facilities and infrastructure must cease, and the death and suffering of innocent populations – both in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf and in Iran – must be halted.
As before, the Russian Federation stands ready, within the scope of its available capabilities, to contribute to a long-term and sustainable resolution of the conflict.