Russia: Since military operation started, any negative impact on civilians was minimised - Lavrov
Russian Federation, Moscow
Donbass conflictPolitics
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov claimed that the 'military operation' in Ukraine had been carried out in such a way as to minimise the civilian impact, during a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.
"From the onset, our military operation was conducted in a way to minimise any negative impact on the civilians and on civilian infrastructure," he stated, adding that the offensive was targeting the kind of energy infrastructure that provides the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian forces.
"Energy facilities, on which the Ukrainian Armed Forces depend for their functioning and the delivery of the huge number of weapons the West is pumping into Ukraine, are also being taken out of action," the politician stated.
The Russian side claims it has been shelling energy infrastructure in Ukraine in recent weeks, with presidential spokesperson Dmitri Peskov saying "we are talking about facilities that are directly or indirectly related to military infrastructure".
However, Kiev and its Western allies have accused Moscow of striking civilian targets, with swathes of the Ukrainian population left without power. President Volodymyr Zelensky also called the shelling 'strikes on the energy security of the entire continent' designed to destroy Ukraine's connection to Europe's energy system.
The EU announced plans earlier this week for a specialist tribunal to look into allegations of Russian 'war crimes' - which Moscow has always denied. For his part, Peskov said that Russian investigators were working "on a daily and virtually hourly basis" to "document the Kiev regime's crimes".
Lavrov also commented on Poland's decision not to allow him to attend the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) ministerial meeting in Lodz, claiming that the group was becoming a 'marginal entity'.
"It was the Swedes who started preparing the OSCE's funeral, while our Polish neighbours have been diligently digging a grave for the organisation all this year, destroying what remains of the culture of consensus," he said.
The OSCE Ministerial Council meeting is taking place in Lodz, Poland, on Thursday and Friday.
Moscow launched a military offensive in Ukraine in late February after recognising the independence of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR), claiming that Kiev had failed to guarantee their special status under the 2014 Minsk Agreements.
Russian troops were sent in, allegedly to defend citizens from attacks by Kiev, as well as to 'demilitarise' and 'denazify' the region. Moscow also urged Ukraine to declare itself officially neutral and guarantee that it would never join NATO.
Kiev denounced the action as an invasion, denying allegations of tolerating Nazi organisations. Zelensky imposed martial law, announcing a general mobilisation, while the EU and US imposed several rounds of sanctions on Moscow.