DM Monitoring
MOSCOW: Russia alleged on Friday that Ukraine had used US-supplied rockets to kill women and children in a region of southern Russia, and said that Washington was to blame.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the deaths had occurred last week in the Belgorod region after the United States agreed to let Ukraine fire US-supplied weapons into Russian territory for the defence of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region.
She said statements by Washington giving the green light for such attacks amounted to “a confession…for the murder of children and women in the Belgorod region”.
“Fragments of Himars [rockets] will serve as direct proof,” she told reporters.
Reuters could not independently verify the assertion and there was no immediate comment from Ukraine or the United States.
Zakharova did not present images of any rocket fragments. She did not say how many people had been killed in the alleged incident.
Earlier, Any French military instructors sent to Ukraine would be a “legitimate target” for Russian armed forces, Russia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov said after Ukrainian officials revealed they were seeking training assistance for their troops from France.
Lavrov made the remarks at a joint news conference on Tuesday with the Republic of the Congo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean Claude Gakosso.
“As for the French instructors, I think they are already on the Ukrainian territory,” Lavrov said. “Regardless of their status, military officials or mercenaries represent a legitimate target for our armed forces.”
Ukraine’s top commander said last week he had signed paperwork that would soon allow French military instructors to access Ukrainian training centres.
Afterwards, French President Emmanuel Macron said he would not comment on “rumours or decisions that could be made” and that he would elaborate on France’s support during events later this week to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day where he will be joined by leaders including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Macron’s office on Tuesday said it would not comment on Lavrov’s remarks. There is no evidence that French instructors are in Ukraine.
Lavrov has visited Africa several times in the past few years as Russia seeks to shore up support amid Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Several African countries in recent years have expressed growing frustration with their traditional Western partners like France and the United States and some have turned to Russia for help in fighting Islamic insurgencies.
Lavrov on Tuesday also dismissed the Ukraine peace conference due to take place later this month in Switzerland. Russia, which insists any discussions need to start with on-the-ground “realities”, has not been invited. It currently occupies about 18 percent of Ukrainian territory.
“This conference in Switzerland has no meaning,” Lavrov said. “The only meaning it can have is to try to preserve this anti-Russian bloc which is in the process of crumbling.”
