Russian foreign minister: West supporting 'genocide' in Ukraine

Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has condemned the US-led West for its support of what he called "genocide" in Ukraine.

Lavrov said on Tuesday that the West was "supporting genocide" in Ukraine by backing Kiev in its plans to "destroy everything Russian" in Ukrainian pro-Moscow regions.

Speaking at a press conference in Bujumbura, Burundi, Lavrov said the West has been turning a blind eye to Kiev's persecution of the pro-Moscow residents in the Russian-speaking Donbas region.

"The conclusion is very simple - the West directly supports genocide," he stated. 

Earlier, Russia's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Maria Zakharova, published a post on social media in which she stated the objective of Moscow's special military operation in eastern Ukraine was to put an end to the "systematic extermination of the Donbas population" that had been going on by neo-Nazis since 2014.

Meanwhile, Russia's President Vladimir Putin made similar remarks, saying the Russian special operation in eastern Ukraine, which started in February 2022, aimed to de-Nazify the region.

Putin confirms strike on Ukrainian military intel. headquarters

Meantime, Putin confirmed on Tuesday that Russian forces had staged a successful strike on the headquarters of the Ukrainian military’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev.

“We’ve been talking about the possibility of striking the ‘decision-making centers.’ Naturally, Ukraine’s military intelligence headquarters falls into such a category, and it was hit two or three days ago,” Putin confirmed.

Putin also said that a drone from Ukraine had reached the Russian capital, Moscow on Tuesday. He said the main goal of Kiev in launching drone attacks on “residential buildings” in Russia is to “intimidate” Russian citizens, adding that such moves were a  “clear sign” of Kiev's “terrorist activity." 

ME