MOSCOW (Dispatches) --
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday denied all accusations related to the slayings of civilians in Ukraine’s Bucha and termed the situation as a “fake attack” aimed at undermining Moscow.
Following the Russian pullout from the area on Sunday, Ukrainian authorities stated that they were probing possible Russian crimes after finding hundreds of bodies scattered around cities like Bucha - situated in Kiev Oblast.
According to Lavrov, the dead bodies were “staged” and images of them were widely circulated on social media by Ukraine and Western countries in an attempt to defame Russian troops, TASS news agency reported.
Lavrov further clarified that the Russian troops had completely exited Bucha city on March 30.
“A couple of weeks ago, attempts were made to portray the situation in one of Mariupol’s maternity hospitals as a Russian military crime. The attempts were undertaken with an overtly provocative purpose, as it proved out afterwards, and fake materials were presented that were exposed,” he added.
Lavrov further stated that Russia is well aware of persistent attempts being made by Western countries to politicize and even speculate on humanitarian situations in Ukraine.
“Of course, the international community is currently focused on the situation in Ukraine. We’ve had a long relationship with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and we have seen how this collaboration helps to tackle the humanitarian issues that people in eastern Ukraine face.”
He went on to add that Moscow sees the situation in Bucha as a provocation that threatens international peace and security. The Russian foreign minister also urged Britain, which chairs the UN Security Council for April, to convene a meeting over Bucha.
Poland has proposed to create a special international commission to investigate the events in Ukraine’s Bucha in the wake of civilian slayings.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki accused Kremlin of committing genocide in several Ukrainian cities like Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and Motyzhyn.
He also urged European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders to take immediate action to destabilize Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war machine.
Morawiecki said Germany is the main roadblock to imposing tougher sanctions on Russia.
“It’s Germany that is the main roadblock on sanctions. Hungary is for the sanctions,” he said.
His comment came after Hungary’s incumbent Prime Minister Viktor Orban won the fourth consecutive term. Orban is against helping Ukraine with military equipment.
Moscow denounced comments by the leader of Poland’s ruling party, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who said Warsaw would welcome American nuclear weapons on its soil and would be ready to have a 50-percent increase in the number of U.S. troops in Europe.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters during a conference call that such a move would only lead to more tension.
France requested a new round of sanctions against Russia. French President Emmanuel Macron told France Inter radio that there were “clear clues pointing to war crimes”, blaming the Russian army for the Bucha killings.
“What happened in Bucha demands a new round of sanctions and very clear measures,” Macron said, requesting that the new sanctions should target the coal and oil industry.
British military intelligence claimed that the Russian forces are regrouping to focus their offensive into the Donbas region in the east of Ukraine.
UK Ministry of Defense tweeted in a regular bulletin that the Russian army and mercenaries from Wagner Private Military and Security Company (PMSC) were being moved into the breakaway region.
Moscow to Bring Expatriate
Engineers Home
The Russian government is trying different ways to persuade highly-skilled Russian expatriates to return home, the Industry and Trade Ministry said on Monday.
“The further development of this program and additional benefits to attract highly qualified Russian specialists from different spheres is being discussed,” the ministry said, without elaborating.
Russia is known for producing world-class engineers and other technical specialists, many of whom have already left or are in the process of leaving the country.