Kremlin, commenting on latest strikes on Ukraine, says Russia is not targeting civilians
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Rescuers evacuating a resident from a building heavily damaged during a Russian missile attack, in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Jan 23.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MOSCOW – The Russian military does not target civilians when it hits objects in Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Jan 23, when asked to comment on what Ukraine said were deadly Russian strikes on the cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv.
Ukrainian officials said on Jan 23 that Russia had unleashed a mass air strike on the cities, killing at least six people and wounding more than 70 others.
Asked if the strikes were Moscow’s response to what Russia said was a Ukrainian artillery attack on the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Jan 21 that killed 27 people, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “No, you cannot say that. We are continuing our special military operation and our military does not hit social facilities and residential neighbourhoods and does not hit civilians, unlike the Kyiv regime.
“This is what fundamentally distinguishes our military from the military of the Kyiv regime.”
Ukrainian forces said on Jan 21 that they did not bear responsibility for the deaths of people in Donetsk and blamed Russia for the heavy loss of life.
Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed or injured by Russian air strikes and shelling since President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of soldiers into Ukraine nearly two years ago. REUTERS
Officials carry a local resident injured as a result of a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv Ukraine.
PHOTO: AFP
