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 military campaign 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." 

Ukraine now de-facto 'state-sponsor of terrorism': Kremlin

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov accuses Ukraine of turning into a de-facto “state-sponsor of terrorism” after Ukraine’s military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov vowed to “keep killing Russians anywhere” across the globe.

Putin said Kiev aims to provoke the Russians into retaliating against Ukraine's attacks by targeting Russian residential areas.  

“They are provoking us into taking mirror actions. We’ll see what we can do about it. Yet, Ukrainian citizens, who of course have no say about anything now, since Ukraine has unleashed a total terror against its civilian population, must realize what the incumbent authorities are pushing for,” Putin pointed out.

Putin noted that the continuous effort to cause disruption at the Zaporozhye nuclear power Plant in Ukraine, as well as potential attempts to use a “dirty” nuclear device, were the most serious acts Kiev pursued.

The Ukrainian military has shelled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power in the country’s volatile south as part of Kiev’s continued provocations.

The Russian leader said Moscow's military launches its strikes in Ukraine only on military targets, such as ammunition dumps and fuel depots, using “high-precision” weaponry.

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