Russia didn’t take part in the transatlantic slave trade

THE EDITOR, Sir:

Leafing through newspapers upon my return from a trip to the region, I came across an article in The Gleaner of May 17, 2019 about reparations for slavery titled ‘Clean up the mess you left’.

To my utter astonishment, Russia was at the top of the list of the main actors in the transatlantic trade in Africans. It is an absolutely baseless allegation.

I want to remind this newspaper and its readers of a well-established historical fact that Russia didn’t take part in the transatlantic slave trade and never established colonies in Africa.

VLADIMIR VINOKUROV

Russian Ambassador to Jamaica