United States, Europe openly encouraging use of Western weapons transferred to Ukraine against Russian territory, while turning a blind eye to the abundant evidence of war crimes by the Ukrainian armed forces: Albert P.Khorev

ISLAMABAD, Sep 30 (SABAH): In a statement, Ambassador of Russia to Pakistan Albert P.Khorev at a briefing said that today is an important date in the history of Russia. On September 30, 2022, President Putin signed treaties on accession оf the Donetsk People’s Republic, Lugansk People’s Republic, Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions to the Russian Federation.

“Realizing that the strategic initiative “on the ground” is in Russia’s hands along the entire line of contact, the Kievregime unleashed large-scale terrorist activities against the civilian population of our regions, and on August 6 this year the Ukrainian fighters invaded the peaceful, border region of Kursk,” he said.

He said they act as brutal thugs: shooting civilians trying to leave the area of hostilities, hitting their cars and ambulances, looting Russian villages, attacking journalists, shelling civilian objects, including residential buildings and schools, and mocking the civilian population while openly using Nazi emblems and symbols. All of this is taking place with the active support of the United States and Europe, whose leaders are openly encouraging the use of Western weapons transferred to Ukraine against the Russian territory, while turning a blind eye to the abundant evidence of war crimes by the Ukrainian armed forces. 

He said that EU, British and U.S. officials are praising Kiev for its invasion of the Kursk region and calling for it to be allowed to strike Russia with long-range missiles.  In addition, they cynically claim that they do not see the events in the Kursk region as an escalation of the conflict. At the same time, we know that Ukraine’s Western mentors were directly involved in the planning and implementation of this operation by the Ukrainian armed forces. Mikhail Podolyak, an advisor to Vladimir Zelensky, has personally admitted this. Nevertheless, the Westerners are recklessly pursuing the path of further dangerous escalation of the conflict.

He said, “We see the invasion of the Kursk region as a gesture of desperation by the Ukrainian armed forces, which have lost the initiative on the battlefield. At the same time, Kiev makes no secret of the fact that by taking this step it supposedly intends to improve its negotiating position in the event of a hypothetical negotiation process with Russia. But what kind of negotiations can we talk about with a regime that attacks civilians, threatens the entire world with nuclear catastrophe, and seeks to attack nuclear power plants?”

He said Ukrainians attacked the Kursk region in an attempt to undermine the stable domestic political situation in Russia. However, it is already obvious that Zelensky’s junta is “not up to the task”. The invasion has led to an even greater consolidation of Russian civil society. The number of volunteers willing to sign a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry and go to the Special Military Operation has only multiplied.

Obviously, one of the goals of the Kursk reckless misadventure of the Kiev regime was to draw our forces away from Donbass, where Russian troops are successfully advancing, to extract new tranches of Western aid, and to boost the morale of Zelensky’s army. However, none of these goals has been achieved. As a result, the Ukrainian armed forces are harming themselves – their best reserves are being destroyed in the Kursk region, he said. 

He said in the Donbass, Russian troops continue their offensive, approaching a logistichub, the city of Pokrovsk. According to statistics, since the beginning of the pecial Military Operation, 39,005 shelling incidents have been recorded in this region, which has suffered the most at the hands of the Kiev regime, including 38,063 with the use of heavy weapons.

He said over this period, 5,063 civilians, including 151 children, were killed on the territory of Donbass. 6,944 people, including 466 children, were injured with varying degrees of severity. 164 civilians, including 11 children, were blown up by “Lepestok” anti-personnel mines. Three victims died as a result.

He said in total, 9,437 people, including 242 children, were killed and 1,763 people, including 935 children, were injured in the Donetsk People’s Republic between 2014 and 2024. On the territory controlled by the authorities of the Republic until 23 February 2022 alone, 15,258 residential buildings and 3,923 civilian infrastructure facilities were destroyed and damaged, including 231 medical and 776 educational facilities, 1,619 social welfare facilities, 140 critical infrastructure facilities, and 1,157 power, water, heat, and gas supply facilities. The extent of destruction in the territory liberated during the Special Military Operation has yet to be determined.

He said in the Zaporozhya region, the Ukrainian armed forces regularly shell the Zaporozhya nuclear power plant, the largest civilian nuclear facility in Europe, endangering the lives not only of the region’s inhabitants, but also of the entire continent. The fact of the shelling, which once again brought the world to the brink of disaster, was recorded on August 11 this year by IAEA Director General RafaelGrossi. The situation around the Kursk nuclear power plant, which is being attacked by Ukrainian drones, is no less tense, as Grossi was again able to see for himself on August 27 this year.

Settlements and civilians in the Belgorod, Bryansk, Kursk, Orel and Kherson regions have recently been subjected to regular enemy shelling, he said and added the nature and focus of these shellings emphasize the terrorist nature of the Kiev regime.

He said this is confirmed by the results of the investigation into the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall in March this year, which indicate the involvement of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine in its preparation, whose emissaries continue to recruit fighters from terrorist organizations in other parts of the world to participate in new operations.

Albert P.Khorev said the expanding geography of the Ukrainian terrorism is evidenced by Ukrainian officials themselves, who claim to have aided militants to attack a convoy of government troops in Mali in late July, prompting Mali and Niger to sever diplomatic relations with Kiev. After that Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso appealed to the UN Security Council to take action in connection with Ukraine’s support for terrorism in Africa, he noted.