“We hope that the American press will stop inciting Russophobia and will present its assessments in an unbiased manner,” Antonov said in a comment for Newsweek, which was posted to Facebook by the Russian Embassy in the United States.
He also suggested that most Western media outlets impose upon their audience a one-sided perception of the ongoing events in Ukraine, consistently presenting Russia as the aggressor.
Antonov noted that US TV channels did not cover Ukrainian troops attacking Donetsk on March 14. One gets "the feeling that nobody cares," the diplomat offered.
He added that he felt that "no one remembers any freedom of speech and pluralism of opinions" in the US, contrary to what is codified in the US Constitution.
Antonov additionally elaborated that the only threat to civilians in Ukraine is from armed militias of Ukrainian nationalists, and that Russian forces are only targeting military infrastructure in the country.
He underscored that "only military infrastructure facilities are destroyed by Russian precision weapons."
Ukrainian far-right armed groups "place tanks and artillery near kindergartens and schools, equip firing positions on the roofs of houses, hiding behind women and children in order to provoke as many civilian casualties as possible," Antonov stated.
The Kremlin initiated its special military operation in Ukraine on February 24, in response to calls from the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics for protection against attacks by Ukrainian troops. Russian President Vladimir Putin stressed that the goal of his special military operation is "the protection of people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years."
According to the Russian president, a "demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine" will be brought about to bring to justice to all war criminals responsible for "bloody crimes against civilians" in Donbass.
The Russian Defense Ministry repeated that the special military operation is targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure only, and the civilian population is not in danger of any Russian military actions. The ministry also released a statement asserting that DPR and LPR troops were developing an offensive with the support of the Russian army.
The Kremlin has repeatedly said that there are no plans for a Russian occupation of Ukraine. Western and other nations around the globe have imposed numerous crippling sanctions on Russia.
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