Sputnik goes live as Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is talking to Russian and foreign media in Moscow.
This comes against the backdrop of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine which has entered its eighth day.
On 24 February, the Russian military together with militia forces from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aimed at "demilitarising and de-Nazifying" the country following continued Ukrainian shelling of the Donbass republics.
Russia's Defence Ministry has repeatedly stressed that Russian forces are only targeting the country's military infrastructure with high-precision strikes while doing everything possible to ensure the safe passage of civilians so that they can flee areas close to the frontline.
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