On a June night under the chandeliers of Russia's United Nations mission in New York, dozens of UN ambassadors from Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Asia attended a reception to mark the country's national day - less than four months after its forces invaded neighboring Ukraine.
"We thank all of you for your support and your principled position against the so-called anti-Russian crusade," Russian UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told them, after accusing countries he did not name of trying to "cancel" Russia and its culture.
