West Turns Blind Eye to Rocket Attack by Kiev in Donetsk Thus Ignoring War Crimes, Putin Told Scholz

Russian President Vladimir Putin called German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's attention to rocket strikes by the Ukrainian military of the cities of Donetsk and Makeevka during a Friday telephone call, the Kremlin press service has stated. The president stressed that these strikes amount to "war crimes", but were still completely ignored by the West.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also addressed recent claims by US President Biden, who called Putin a "murderous dictator", a "pure thug", and a "war criminal" in his latest speeches, saying that his statements had already turned into daily insults. Peskov added that such statements should be unacceptable for a president of a country that has killed hundreds of thousands around the world with its bombs.

Russia and Ukraine mutually accuse each other's military of attacking civilian objects. The Kremlin has repeatedly guaranteed that Russian forces are only conducting strikes against military objects.

The Ukrainian armed forces and nationalist battalions have been carrying out occasional attacks against the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR) ever since they declared independence following the West-backed coup in Kiev in 2014. The latest major strike came on 14 March, when a Tochka-U (NATO reporting name is SS-21 Scarab) missile hit the centre of Donetsk, killing 20 and injuring 35 more. The DPR authorities claim that the missile was armed with forbidden cluster munition. The Russian envoy to the UN slammed the strike as a terrorist attack and a war crime.

In his conversation with Olaf Scholz, Putin touched upon the ongoing Russia-Ukraine talks, saying that Kiev is trying to drag out the negotiations by making more and more unrealistic proposals. He added that Russia nonetheless continues to search for solutions to negotiate a deal to end the hostilities.

Peskov said that the text of an agreement is yet to be negotiated and added that the Russian delegation is ready to work at a faster pace. He expressed regret that the Ukrainian side does not show a similar intent.