Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week claimed that Russia “didn’t invade Ukraine,” and is “not ashamed,” during an interview with BBC News.
Lavrov said, "We didn't invade Ukraine. We declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the West that dragging Ukraine into NATO was a criminal act."
He repeated claims that Russian officials have made that the invasion is an attempt to remove Nazis in Ukraine.
Lavrov was asked about a United Nations report stating that in the Ukrainian village of Yahidne, "360 residents, including 74 children and five persons with disabilities, were forced by Russian armed forces to stay for 28 days in the basement of a school … there were no toilet facilities, water … 10 older people died. Is that fighting Nazis?”
Said Lavrov: "It's a great pity, but international diplomats, including the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, the U.N. secretary-general and other U.N. representatives, are being put under pressure by the West. And very often they're being used to amplify fake news spread by the West."
He added, "Russia is not squeaky clean. Russia is what it is. And we are not ashamed of showing who we are."
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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