MOSCOW, July 7 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Foreign Ministry continues to record humanitarian and war crimes in the southeast of Ukraine, and is striving to put a halt to the violence in the region, the ministry’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov said Monday.
“We continue to record the most serious humanitarian crimes, war crimes that take place as there’s an armed conflict in Ukraine... Killing civilians and destroying civilian infrastructure is classified as war crimes in accordance with international law. ... What’s happening in the southeast of Ukraine is a further exacerbation of a humanitarian catastrophe, crisis,” Dolgov said at a hearing in Russia’s Civic Chamber.
According to the diplomat, Russia is striving to stop the punitive military operation and violence in the southeast of Ukraine, as well as insisting on holding full-scale talks between the two sides.
Dolgov stressed that Kiev’s operation in the east of the country is an attempt to put pressure on the residents of southeastern Ukraine that do not agree with the new government’s actions.
The Russian Foreign Ministry is compiling a record of all the human rights violations in so-called “White Books”. Two volumes have already been published and the ministry is now considering more editions, as the situation indicates there may be a need to do so.
The military operation in the east of Ukraine started in mid-April and has already claimed hundreds of lives and forced thousands to flee their homes. Russia has repeatedly condemned Kiev’s actions and urged for a stop the punitive operation and peace in the region.
