TASS photographer Alexandr Scherbak has responded to the insane US media hysteria alleging that he is some sort of KGB propaganda agent who "tricked" America with his devious photographs of Sergey Lavrov shaking hands with Donald Trump.

Alexandr has a very simple message for his American colleagues: Please preserve your professional dignity.

Russia strikes again?

The below text was posted on his Facebook page:

I would like to address the US media. Honestly, this is nonsense to me. I am an individual who is not in the public eye and I’ve never commented on my work before but this hysteria around my photoshoot at the White House has forced me to write this post.

I’ve worked for the minister’s press pool since 2015 and I am often invited to cover trips and meetings of Foreign Minister Lavrov together with my colleagues.

I covered almost all the meetings that took place in the US, France, Germany, Switzerland and many other countries. Those were open and closed meetings, summits and forums, and many other events. The lists of journalists who cover trips are always submitted beforehand. And everyone knows who works where, who represents whom, and so on. Under the terms of the collaborative work between the Russian Foreign Ministry and TASS news agency I provide some of my photo materials for free publications on the Foreign Ministry’s official page and to other sources. Some photographs are distributed by TASS as with any other news agency.

There was nothing unusual about the photoshoot with Trump and Lavrov. Everything was typical. After the meeting with Tillerson I was taken by a US representative to the White House. I was scanned, patted down, and then sniffed by canines. Then I was waiting for the arrival of our delegation in a room in the White House. I was introduced to a female photographer who works there and was told to stay by her side as she knows all the protocol details. I took only two cameras to the photoshoot, I left all my stuff, including my cellphone, in another room as I was told to do.

The photoshoot was usual, with the delegations exchanging handshakes, a verbal exchange, and then the meeting began. We worked for just a minute and that’s all. I left the Oval Office and returned to the room where I was staying. When the meeting was over, we went to the Russian embassy for a news conference. And then we took off. I am urging US journalists not to lose their professional dignity and not to pin the blame on other people for their failure in organizing the photoshoot and the failure to provide access to their media. I have worked as a professional photo correspondent for many years and I am facing such absurd and ludicrous charges for the first time.