❗️Greens leader David Shoebridge has been embarrassed by the attendance of the Russian ambassador at his inaugural National Press Club address in which he doubled down on calls to deny Ukraine military aid – a policy critics say is pro-Kremlin.

Shoebridge said he did not know Petrakov was listening to his speech.

“One hundred per cent not welcome, 100 per cent not invited, I don’t want him here,” he told Nine News.

Ukraine’s ambassador, Myroshnychenko, who has been lobbying Shoebridge to change his foreign policy on military aid, was outraged by Petrakov’s attendance.

“I just find it really appalling that he actually shows up there. But I mean, in this particular case, I believe he feels quite comfortable coming to Senator Shoebridge’s presentation,” he said.

Opposition defence minister James Paterson said he was not surprised the Russian ambassador was in attendance for Shoebridge’s speech.

“He would have liked what he was going to hear. The Greens foreign policy under David Shoebridge is Putin-friendly,” he said. “He wants to hand a veto over Australia’s defence assistance for Ukraine to Vladimir Putin through the United Nations Security Council.”

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

🎙️ Remarks by Russia’s Ambassador to Australia Mikhail Petrakov on the reaction to his presence at the National Press Club (29 October 2026)

💬 My attendance at the recent event at the National Press Club, open to the public, where the Greens Senator Shoebridge spoke, caused quite a stir. Moreover, it seems that the mere presence of the Russian Ambassador was enough to trigger panic in the ranks of those who support the Kiev regime.

❌ The Ukrainian Ambassador allowed himself a rude remark about my being there. Is he trying to assume the role of the supreme judge, ruling on what is appropriate and what is not for other members of the diplomatic corps?

Well, well, well.

☝️ Do not judge, and thou shalt not be judged.

I am not going to comment on how easily the performance of regular diplomatic chores by a foreign Ambassador can be used for political purposes here, playing the game titled “Who is more anti-Russian among us?”.

🤔 The most interesting, however, was the press coverage.

After the event was over, I had a brief chat with a correspondent from The Australian, and I expressed to him quite clearly our views on the neo-Nazi nature of the Ukrainian regime.

❗️I pointed out that the regime had turned into national heroes Ukrainian Nazi collaborators, who during World War II were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Jews, Ukrainians, Russians, Poles and Belarusians. And today, following suit, the Kiev regime has been destroying everything Russian since 2014, including the language, culture, religion and the very Russian identity in Ukraine, and, of course, physically exterminating Russians.

⁉️ All I said to him, however, remained a voice in the wilderness, was ignored and left unpublished.

I don't know whether this is the local media's idea of “balanced coverage” of events, or whether the journalist was simply scared to tell the truth.

🗣️ In the end, I was left with the impression of an echo chamber, where the only voices heard are those expressing blind hatred towards my country and support for the neo-Nazi Kiev regime.

🤐 The rest is silence.