MOSCOW, September 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's Ministry of Defense has denied the claims about Russian military casualties in Ukraine, reported by a Ukrainian official, the ministry's spokesperson Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov told the press Thursday.
"Russian military agency has called the statement by the herald of [Ukraine's] National Security and Defense Council Andriy Lysenko, who announced, with reference to the data of 'operational intelligence', the death of thousands Russian servicemen on the Ukrainian territory, 'nonsense' ," the official said.
"We have repeatedly pointed at the mechanism of functioning of the 'information carousel', in the course of which fake messages, by means of reciting, first turn into 'facts from the ground', and then are picked up by top Western media," Konashenkov added.
Earlier on Thursday, Ukrainian media reported that Andriy Lysenko, the spokesperson for Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said at a press briefing that around 2,000 Russian troops were killed and 8,000 wounded on the Ukrainian territory.
Western and Ukrainian officials have repeatedly accused Moscow of military intervention to the armed conflict between the Ukrainian government and pro-independence forces of the country's southeastern regions. Thursday, a representative for Russian Foreign Ministry Alexander Lukashevich underscored that there have never been Russian servicemen on the Ukrainian territory, adding that there are volunteer fighters from Russia. Earlier, a number of top Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also vowed not to intervene in the Ukrainian conflict.
