# Dmitry Peskov

Dmitry Sergeyevich Peskov (Russian: Дмитрий Сергеевич Песков) (born 17 October 1967) is a Russian diplomat who is the press secretary for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.

## Quotes

* We remind you that Russia has never attacked anyone throughout its history. And Russia, which has survived so many wars, is the last country in Europe that even wants to utter the word ‘war.’
** "Russian spokesman’s statement ignores centuries of Russian attacks", 21 February 2022
* The Russian troops don’t conduct any strikes against civilian infrastructure and residential areas.
** "Kremlin denies striking civilian targets in Ukraine, despite evidence", Times of Israel, 1 March 2022
* Russian forces do not fire on civilian targets.
** "Russia shifts stance on hospital bombing that sparked world outrage (Update)", Cyprus Mail, 10 March 2022
* A real Russian is never ashamed to be Russian.
** "Russians are not real Russians if ashamed of Ukraine conflict - Kremlin", The Jerusalem Post, 11 March 2022
* Many people show themselves to be what we in Russia like to call traitors. They disappear from our lives on their own. Some resign from their jobs, some withdraw from their professional lives, and some leave the country and move to other places. That’s how the purification happens.
** "'The traitors will disappear on their own' Dmitry Peskov on the coming 'purification of Russian society'", Meduza, 18 March 2022
* Right now, everyone is very emotional about what’s going on. And you know what? The overwhelming majority are those who support the president emotionally. There are so many people who want to support the president — not just emotionally, but also in their actions. They’re the overwhelming majority.
** "'The traitors will disappear on their own' Dmitry Peskov on the coming 'purification of Russian society'", Meduza, 18 March 2022

### CNN Interview (March 2022)

"Putin spokesman refuses to rule out use of nuclear weapons if Russia faced an 'existential threat'", interview, CNN, 22 March 2022
* We are speaking of a special military operation that is going on, and it is going strictly in accordance with the plans, and there were purposes, they were established in beforehand of course. First, I think we have to speak about the reasons for this operation. I mean, because speaking of the morale against, in the morale against, among our military. Of course you operate data and information coming from different media and from your intelligence. But you would probably have to doubt it, and you have to think twice whether it is true or not.
* No one would think from the very beginning about a couple of days. It's a serious operation with serious purposes. And I think if we try to remember those purposes, those main goals of the operation, it is to get rid of the military potential of Ukraine, and this is why our military is targeting only military objects on the territory of Ukraine. Not civil ones. Russia military are not hitting civilian aims, civil targets. Number two, it is to ensure that Ukraine changes from entire Russian centered to a neutral country. And in this sense, let's remember that after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the neutral status fixed with us in the declaration of independence of the country. Three, to get rid of the nationalist battalions and regiments who are opposing Russian troops, who are now trying to cover themselves under the shield of civilians, thus paving a way for civil casualties.
* Also to ensure that Ukraine acknowledges the fact that Crimea is also an untakable part of Russia, and that People's Republic of Luhansk and Donetsk are independent states. Ukraine has lost them after the coup that happened in 2014.
* The strategic goal is to clear up the Mariupol from nationalistic regiments who are there in a heavily-covered environment, and so, by the way they're simply not letting people out from this thing, from the town. And this is a problem, because now we're receiving lots of refugees coming from there, and they simply tell us that they were used like a shield. They were used under heavy bombardment, and then those nationalists, they were, they were killing people who would want to leave the city. And now the main goal is to get rid of those bad guys there.
* Russian soldiers are not shooting at civilians. They’re not attacking them but helping them.
** "Kremlin insists it is not killing Ukrainian civilians but "helping" them", Ukrainian Pravda, 23 March 2022
* We do not accept the jurisdiction of ICC [International criminal court of justice]. We did not — we did not acknowledge it before, and we do not accept it right now. And we are not going to accept it further.
* From the very beginning of these special operations, Russian military had a very strict order from the chief commander not to aim at civilian targets. And they are not doing that. They are not shelling houses. They are not shelling apartments. They are not shelling civil objects. They are only shelling and they're aiming of military infrastructure, in the context of one of the main goals of the operation, demilitarization of Ukraine. Then who is ruining the infrastructure, the civil infrastructure of Mariupol, for example? Those Nazi battalions inside Mariupol, they're simply killing those who would like to escape from the city. And these Nazi battalions, they are using the apartments as a shelter for their guns, for their armaments, for their tanks, for their snipers. That is causing the reciprocal fire. So, it is not Russian military who are doing that.
** "Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Ukraine and the West: ‘Don’t push us into the corner’", PBS, 28 March 2022
* The West is an oasis for criminals from Russia.
** "Песков назвал Запад оазисом для преступников" (in Russian; "Peskov called the West an oasis for criminals"), interview in RIA Novosti, 3 April 2022
* Ukraine is a very difficult country, very difficult for us. In its current state it is hostile towards us.
** "Kremlin says peace talks should continue, lashes 'hostile' Ukraine", Reuters, 2 April 2022
* We categorically deny any accusations.
* The situation is undoubtedly serious and we would ask that many international leaders not rush with their statements, not rush with their baseless accusations, request information from different sources, and at least listen to our explanations.
** Said after the massacre on civilians in Bucha, quoted in "Kremlin denies Ukrainian allegations its forces killed civilians near Kyiv", Reuters, 4 April 2022
* We have significant losses of troops and it is a huge tragedy for us.
** "'Huge tragedy for us': Kremlin admits 'significant' Russian troop losses in Ukraine", 8. april 2022
* We are in fact now living in the conditions of a perfect storm and the moment of truth, that very storm and moment of truth that will ensure and protect our interests, and make it so that your lives are better, more comfortable, more stable, and more secure.
* Our president knows where he is leading our country.
* The whole country supports him.
* We will win and achieve all our goals.
** "Kremlin Tells Russians: Don’t Worry, This War Will ‘Make Your Lives Better’", The Daily Beast, 17 May 2022
* We accuse Western countries of taking a series of unlawful actions that has led to the blockade.
** Said about the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports, stopping export of food from Ukraine, quoted in "Russia slams sanctions, seeks to shift blame for food crisis", OPB/Associated Press, 26 May 2022
* We will never trust the West again.
** "Russia Says It Will 'never Trust West Again', Fallout Over Ukraine War To Be 'long Crisis'", Metro, 21 June 2022
* Russian Armed Forces do not work with civilian targets.
** "Blasts rock Ukraine city as Russian missiles drive up civilian death toll", CNBC, 2 July 2022
* The creation of a demilitarised zone around the ZNPP [Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant] is not being considered.
** "Russia will not demilitarise zone around Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant Peskov", Yahoo News, 29 August 2022
* The operation is being conducted as planned, its goals will be achieved.
** "Kremlin considers negotiations again, although "special operation going as planned"", Yahoo News, 4 September 2022
* Not at this point. No, we are not discussing that.
** Said on 13. september 2022 about Russian mass mobilization, 8 days before Russian mass mobilization was announced, quoted in "Russia ‘Not Discussing’ Mass Military Mobilization, Kremlin Says", Moscow Times, 13 September 2022
* We will continue to consult with the people who live in those regions.
** Answered when asked about where the borders will be for the regions Kherson and Zaporizhzhia that Russia "annexed" from Ukraine, quoted in "Russia Admits It Doesn't Know Where Its Western Border Is After Annexation", Newsweek, 3 October 2022
* You should rely only on the data published by the Ministry of Defense of Russia.
** "Ukraine war live updates: Putin warned of arrest if he attends summit; Kremlin rejects U.S. claim of 100,000 Russian casualties", 2 May 2023
* Russians don’t wage war. We’re trying to preserve infrastructure and human lives.
** "Kremlin Acknowledges Waging ‘Difficult’ Campaign in Ukraine", Moscow Times, 11 May 2023
* Waging war is a completely different thing. It entails total destruction of infrastructure, complete destruction of cities. We’re not doing that.
** "Putin’s spokesman said goals of Ukraine invasion ‘partially achieved’ but far from complete", Meduza, 11 May 2023
* If a company doesn’t fulfil its obligations, then, of course, it goes in the category of naughty companies. We say goodbye to those companies. And what we do with their assets after that is our business.
** "Russia moves to seize ‘naughty’ western companies", Financial Times, 15 June 2023
* Ukraine was heavily militarized at the time of the start of the [special military operation]. And, as [Russian President Vladimir] Putin said yesterday, one of the tasks was the demilitarization of Ukraine. In fact, this task has been largely completed. Ukraine is using less and less of its weapons. And more and more it uses weapons systems supplied to it by Western countries.
** "Песков заявил, что задача демилитаризации Украины фактически выполнена" (Russian; "Peskov said that the task of demilitarization of Ukraine has actually been completed"], TASS, 17 June 2023
* Russia does not strike at civilian infrastructure.
** Said about a Russian attack on a Ukrainian restaurant in Kramatorsk, killing 10 people and wounding 60, quoted in "Russia Does Not Attack Civilian Targets in Ukraine: Peskov", teleSUR English, 28 June 2023
* There are currently no grounds for an agreement. We will continue the operation for the foreseeable future.
* We just want to control all the land we have now written into our constitution as ours.
** Said about the Ukrainian oblasts Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts partly occupied by Russia, quoted in "Russia rejects peace agreement, insisting its war in Ukraine will rage on 'for the foreseeable future'", Business Insider, 6 August 2023
* Although elections are a requirement of democracy and Putin himself has decided to hold them, theoretically it’s possible not to hold them, Because it’s already obvious that Putin will be elected.
* Our presidential election is not really democracy, it is costly bureaucracy... Mr. Putin will be re-elected next year with more than 90% of the vote.
** "Kremlin Says 'Theoretically Possible' to Not Hold Presidential Elections", The Moscow Times, 7 August 2023

## Quotes about Dmitry Peskov

* The tragedy is that these lies aren't meant to be believed. What they're meant to do is they're meant to convince Russians that there is no such thing as the truth and that everybody's as bad as the other.
** Tom Tugendhat MP, chairman of the UK's foreign affairs committee, quoted in "Ukraine war: Russia 'living in a parallel universe' and peddling 'catalogue of lies' say critics after Peskov interview", 8 April 2022
* Dmitri Peskov has served as Vladimir Putin’s spokesperson since 2008. In this capacity, he has played a key role in propaganda and disinformation campaigns to cover up the Kremlin’s links to the 2006 polonium poisoning of former Russian intelligence officer Alexander Litvinenko, the 2018 Novichok poisoning of former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skirpal and his daughter Yulia, and the 2020 Novichok poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. In all these cases, official and independent sources have debunked the Kremlin’s disinformation and established the Kremlin’s direct responsibility. Serving Putin has been lucrative for Peskov, and despite being a civil servant for his entire career, he and his family are now multimillionaires.
* Before Putin launched his unprovoked and brutal war of choice against Ukraine, Peskov repeatedly denied Russia had any intentions to invade its neighbor. He falsely asserted that Russia did not pose a threat to Ukraine, that Russia had never attacked any other nation, and that Russia would be the “last country in Europe” to think about starting a war. Attempting to discredit Western media reports that exposed the Kremlin’s invasion preparations, Peskov called them “provocations,” an “unfounded fomenting of tension,” “Western hysteria,” “irresponsible fakes,” and “maniacal information insanity.” Russia’s war in Ukraine validated the media reports and undermined Peskov’s credibility.
* Peskov has been one of the key implementers of the Kremlin’s standard disinformation playbook of denial, lies, and obfuscation.
   * US Department of State, in "Faces of Kremlin Propaganda: Dmitri Peskov", 18 April 2022
* If a Russian spokesman (e.g. Dmitri Peskov) must be cited, it must be mentioned that this specific figure has lied about every aspect of this war since it began. This is context. Readers picking up the story in the middle need to know such background.
** "The Nova Kakhovka Dam in Ukraine", Timothy Snyder, historian, 7 June 2023

## External links

* Peskov's profile and assets on Russian Asset Tracker