Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov during a press conference in Russia in 2019 (Reuters)

The spread of "Russophobic horror stories" has become a "maniacal" trait of the West and specifically NATO, according to Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.

"We don't need anything from the West. We want to be left alone. But NATO, for its part, with maniacal persistence worthy of better use, has consistently crawled up to the Russian borders, at the same time zombifying our neighboring countries with Russophobic horror stories," Ryabkov told Sputnik.

Ryabkov recalled warning the US against involving itself in the war, even through rhetoric, "The Americans did not hear our warnings and did not take them seriously, but only continued in every possible way to incite Kiev against Russia,"

Russophobia has been on the rise since the start of the war in Ukraine back in February 2022. Embassies, administrations, and even schools were conducting Western-led orders in inciting hate against Russian civilians.

Visas in the EU stopped being issued to Russian citizens in light of the war and even in athletic arenas, Russian flags were no longer displayed.

The Russian Embassy in the US has called out the latter multiple times for its Russophobic attempts at demonizing Russia, stating that it does so to earn 'political points'.