Russia’s ambassador to Canada has accused Ottawa of running a social media campaign aimed at demoralizing its soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

In an interview with Russian state media, Oleg Stepanov denounced that Canada’s foreign ministry often publishes negative news related to the war in Ukraine. He was particularly critical of a recent series of publications about Russian men fleeing military service.

“If there is no real diplomacy, capacity or desire on the Canadian side to deal with serious problems for Russia, turn on this Twitter megaphone,” Stepanov told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency last week.

He added that Canada appears to be leading efforts by western countries to isolate Russia.

Meanwhile, the governments of Georgia and Kazakhstan, which are neighbors of Russia, have reported a surge in newcomers to their countries.

The ambassador argued that Russians had no choice but to protect their country, saying that “history will separate the wheat from the chaff.”

Relations between Ottawa and Moscow have been strained since the beginning of the yearRussian invasion of Ukraine last February.

Moscow began mobilizing men with no military experience in September, dismissing statements by the governments of Georgia and Kazakhstan about a later increase in the number of people from neighboring Russia.

Last week, Global Affairs Canada tweeted a message saying the mobilization targeted ethnic minorities, sparking protests and driving thousands of Russian citizens to flee.

In a rejoinder, Mr Stepanov called the citizens who fled Russia “cowards”. He said real Russians would defend the country “regardless of their political views”. He argued that there was “no moral alternative” to defending the national army.

He wrote to the TASS news agency that “precisely” in these instances of history we separate the good from the bad.

Earlier this month Moscow invited the Canadian ambassador to Russia in response to the fact that Canada has summoned Mr Stepanov five times this year.

The convocation of an ambassador is usually a rare event where countries agree to formally oppose either the foreign country’s policies or the conduct of their diplomatic mission.

Ottawa first called Mr Stepanov shortly after the February invasion, then after April’s massacre in the city of Bucha, followed by October’s bombings in central Kyiv. The fourth subpoena came after the embassy tweeted anti-LGBTQ news in November and again this month because it argued that the 1930s famine in Ukraine, known as the Holodomor, was not the result of Soviet policies.

Russia retaliated this month, inviting Canadian Ambassador Alison LeClaire for what the Russian Foreign Ministry described as “numerous unjustified cases” in which Stepanov was subpoenaed by Ottawa.

The five subpoenas “go far beyond normal diplomatic practice,” the ministry argued in a Dec. 9 press release.

Moscow previously subpoenaed Ms LeClaire in September after allegations that Global Affairs Canada failed to take incidents involving the Ottawa embassy seriously, such as security video of a Molotov cocktail being thrown on the mission field.

The two countries say they want to maintain certain diplomatic ties, but Ottawa has decided to no longer cooperate with Moscow on many issues.

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