Russia not squeaky clean but not ashamed of it, Lavrov says

Russia has not been “squeaky clean” in the war with Ukraine and is “not ashamed of it”, claims the country’s foreign minister.

Sergei Lavrov was asked by the BBC about a UN report in the Ukrainian village of Yahidne where 360 residents were forced to stay in a school basement by Russian forces for 28 days and 10 people died.

He responded: “It’s a great pity but international diplomats, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Secretary-General and other UN representatives, are being put under pressure by the West. And very often they’re being used to amplify fake news spread by the West.”

“Russia is not squeaky clean. Russia is what it is. And we are not ashamed of showing who we are.”

He repeated the claim that Russia was in Ukraine to defeat Nazis and said not everything was as it seemed in the conflict.

Mr Lavrov added: “We didn’t invade Ukraine. We declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way of explaining to the West that dragging Ukraine into Nato was a criminal act.”

The foreign minister also touched on relations with the UK and was asked if the relationship being bad between the two countries was an understatement.

“I don’t think there’s even room for manoeuvre any more because both [Prime Minister Boris] Johnson and [Liz] Truss say openly that we should defeat Russia, we should force Russia to its knees. Go on, then, do it!,” he said.

In other developments, Britain will host talks on rebuilding key infrastructure in Kyiv on Friday, as ferocious fighitng continues in the east of Ukraine.

Business will discuss how British companies can help rebuild key infrastructure in Kyiv and will promote collaboration between its companies in infrastructure, energy and transport, to help repair damaged and destroyed infrastructure.

On the battlefield, Ukrainian officials said their troops were holding out against massive Russian bombardment in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, and described new progress in a counteroffensive in the south.

But they said battles on both main fronts depended on receiving more aid from the West, especially artillery to counter Russia’s big advantage in firepower.

“We appreciate the support already provided by partners, we expect new deliveries, primarily heavy weapons, modern rocket artillery, anti-missile defence systems,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday.

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