MOSCOW, June 4 (RIA Novosti) — The Kiev government’s violent actions in eastern Ukraine should not go unpunished, the Russian Foreign Ministry’s point man for human rights said Wednesday.
Russian Foreign Ministry’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov said the current events in Ukraine "beat all the grim records of the past years," including the violence in former Yugoslavia.
"What is going on in eastern Ukraine today should not go unpunished," he said.
"If we say that double standards must be rejected, that we all will assist the democratic development of Ukraine together, then there should be no impunity. Steps should be made, including by Western countries, in order to spur the Kiev authorities to first and foremost end the punitive operation," he continued.
Dolgov also said that the Ukrainian crisis could not be settled while Kiev continued the punitive operation in the east, and called to follow the Geneva agreements and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) roadmap, which spell out specific steps to resolve the situation.
"First of all, all violence must be stopped, as written in the Geneva agreement and the OSCE roadmap. Until this punitive operation stops, it is difficult to talk about a breakthrough in the political direction and about reinstalling justice in the fight against impunity," Dolgov said at the presentation of his book "Mass Human Rights Violations in the Course of Civil Resistance 22.02-22.05.2014" at RIA Novosti.
Since mid-April, Kiev authorities have been conducting a special military operation in the east of Ukraine to suppress the pro-independence movement. The violence intensified after Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics declared independence from Ukraine and united under the name of Novorossiya. Hundreds of people, including civilians died in both regions in the past months. Only this week, 13 people were killed in an airstrike and a roadblock fight in Luhansk.
Last week, an attack on Donetsk airport that followed early presidential elections, won by Petro Poroshenko, killed about 100 of self-defense forces and civilians.
Moscow has repeatedly called on Kiev to stop the punitive operation, which has already claimed hundreds of lives.
