When Valentina Matviyenko began to discuss on Olga Skabeeva’s show that Russia would not “abduct Zelensky” because it is supposedly “not its style,” it turned out to be not just pure hypocrisy, but almost a ready-made political anecdote. According to TASS on April 3, 2026, the Chairwoman of the Federation Council stated that Russia “will not abduct Vladimir Zelensky” “like the US did with Maduro,” because then the country “will lose respect for itself.”
“Are you suggesting to abduct Zelensky? Don’t provoke me into saying that we should strike, that we should abduct someone now. This is not our style. We are the most self-respecting and respected country in the world. If we act by such methods, we will lose respect for ourselves. And secondly, the United States gained no effect from the assassination of [Ayatollah Ali] Khamenei. But the stigma will remain in history forever“, she said in an interview with Olga Skabeeva for the program “60 Minutes”
The problem for Matviyenko is that this phrase sounds not like a demonstration of dignity, but as an example of how far the Russian elite has gone into its own parallel reality. When a representative of a state, against whose leadership the International Criminal Court has issued a warrant for the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children, begins to lecture on the inadmissibility of abductions, it is no longer propaganda in the usual sense. It is a genre where absurdity writes its own script.
What exactly did Matviyenko say and why does it sound like bad satire
TASS conveyed her words quite unequivocally: Russia, supposedly, “will not act by such methods, otherwise it will lose respect for itself.” The context was a comparison with the US operation in Venezuela in January, when Nicolas Maduro was captured by American forces and taken to New York, where he stood trial on charges related to drug trafficking. This episode indeed became one of the loudest international crises of early 2026, and it was precisely on this that Matviyenko decided to rely as an example of “foreign style.”
But here begins what one wants to formulate more simply, almost humanly: what are they even saying. Because the Russian state machine has lived for many years not in the logic of law, but in the logic of violence, coercion, deportations, disappearances, and extrajudicial pressure. Therefore, the phrase “this is not our style” in the Russian execution sounds about as convincing as if a pyromaniac were talking about fire safety rules.
Why the words about “not our style” break against the facts
In March 2026, the Independent International Commission of the UN on the Investigation of Violations in Ukraine concluded that the Russian authorities committed crimes against humanity in the form of deportation and forced displacement of Ukrainian children, as well as their forced disappearances. The commission specifically noted that it has confirmed data on at least 1205 children from five regions of Ukraine.
This is no longer journalism and emotions, but the formulations of an international investigation.
Even earlier, in March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova precisely on the case of illegal deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied territories. Over these two years, the essence of the accusations has not disappeared, but on the contrary, has been supplemented by new findings of international structures. Therefore, the attempt to portray Russia as a country that supposedly “respects itself too much” for abductions breaks against the already recorded facts of international law.
Moreover, in 2025, the UN separately stated that the forced disappearances committed by Russian authorities against the civilian population of Ukraine have acquired a systemic character and can be qualified as crimes against humanity. Against this background, when Matviyenko talks about Russia not wanting to lose respect, it looks not like a defense of reputation, but as an unsuccessful attempt to erase the memory of its own practices. Nikk.Agency — Israel News | Nikk.Agency in this case sees not just a scandalous quote of the day, but a concentrate of all Russian rhetoric: first you live for years with abductions, deportations, and terror, and then you portray yourself as an offended virtue.
Why such words sound especially cynical in Israel
For the Israeli audience, this story is even more jarring.
In a region where the topic of abductions, hostages, and forced detention of people has long ceased to be abstract, statements about “style” and “respect” sound especially rotten when uttered by representatives of a regime that itself builds power on coercion and fear. Here it is no longer possible to get away with a neutral retelling. Because behind Matviyenko’s outwardly smooth phrase lies the old Russian manner: to speak of morality from a position of strength, even when there is a whole archive of international accusations behind you.
That is why her remark ultimately works not for Moscow, but against it. It does not justify Russia and does not demonstrate “high style.” It only once again shows how much the Russian elite is accustomed to thinking that a loudly spoken phrase can cancel UN documents, ICC decisions, and the memory of what happened in the occupied territories of Ukraine. It will not. And in this, perhaps, lies the main meaning of this whole story.
Who is “Valka-glass”
“Valka-glass” is not an official name or a “historical nickname,” but a crude, derogatory nickname by which Valentina Matviyenko is called in Ukrainian, anti-Kremlin, and part of the Russian opposition space. This nickname refers specifically to Valentina Matviyenko — the current Chairwoman of the Federation Council of Russia, the upper house of the Russian parliament. She has held this position since 2011 and was re-elected for a new term in September 2024.
In short, Matviyenko is one of the oldest and most systemic figures of Putin’s vertical. According to her official biography, she was born on April 7, 1949, in Shepetivka (Ukraine), graduated from the Leningrad Chemical-Pharmaceutical Institute, went through Soviet party structures, then was a diplomat in Malta and Greece, Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, Governor of St. Petersburg, and then moved to the Federation Council, where she became one of the key public faces of the regime. Reuters and the official website of the Federation Council directly call her the speaker of the upper house of the Russian parliament.
The nickname “Valka-glass” is usually explained as follows: “Valka” is a deliberately lowered, colloquial address instead of “Valentina,” and “glass” in popular versions refers to old rumors about a love for drinking and her image from the late Soviet and post-Soviet nomenclature environment. But here precision is important: there is no documented origin of this nickname. Ukrainian publications that retell this story themselves present it as a level of rumors and conversational versions, not as an established fact. Therefore, it is more correct to write like this: “Valka-glass” is an insulting political label, the origin of which is associated with unverified rumors about feasts and alcohol.
Why did this nickname stick to her in particular? Not only because of the crude folklore. For many, Matviyenko has become a symbol of the old Russian nomenclature: very smooth public speech, ostentatious statehood, absolute loyalty to the Kremlin, and at the same time participation in decisions that in the West and Ukraine are associated with war and aggression. In 2022, it was the Federation Council under her leadership that ratified the Russian annexation of four Ukrainian regions after pseudo-referendums. Therefore, in the Ukrainian media space, her name has long since turned not just into the surname of an official, but into a meme and contemptuous image.
In essence, “Valka-glass” is not a story about a real biographical detail, but a way to humiliate Matviyenko as a face of the regime. That is, first comes political hatred for her role in the power system, and already on top of it — a popular, angry, street label. This is exactly how it should be presented if a text without weak spots is needed: not to repeat gossip as fact, but to explain that this is an insulting nickname for Valentina Matviyenko, one of the most influential and most odious figures of the Russian state elite.