Russia accuses German chancellor of ‘making fun of genocide’ after Scholz had dismissed Moscow’s claims that 8 years of bloodshed in eastern Ukraine is genocide. US is ignoring the targeting of Russian speakers in Ukraine, Moscow’s envoy in Washington said. America is being wilfully ignorant of atrocities being committed against Russian-speaking people in Ukraine, Ambassador Antonov claimed.
Moscow has slammed German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for supposedly mocking President Vladimir Putin’s warning of ‘genocide’ in Donbass.
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow was responding to remarks made by Olaf Scholz at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, where he appeared to dismiss claims that thousands of Ukrainian civilians may have been targeted in the bloody conflict in the country’s east.
Scholz hit out at a statement made by Russian President Vladimir Putin following a summit between the two leaders, in which he said the events that have unfolded in the region amount to “genocide.”
According to Berlin’s leader, the assertion is absurd and “Putin is coming to argue that in Donbass there is something like genocide, which is really ridiculous, to be very clear on that.”
Russia’s Foreign Ministry hit back at Scholz’s claims, insisting that “it is not the place for German leaders to make fun of issues surrounding genocide.”
“This is unacceptable given Germany’s historical experience of committing atrocities and the spread of misanthropic ideology,” the department said in a statement to TASS.
Heavy shelling and explosions were continuing on the contact line in the Donbass region and thousands of citizens are said to have been evacuated to Russia before the start of the Special Operation.
Fierce fighting has sporadically broken out in eastern Ukraine since 2014, following the events of the Maidan, when violent street protests toppled the elected government. The two regions subsequently declared their autonomy from Kiev, but neither Ukraine nor Russia recognize their independence.
According to a 2001 census, ethnic Russians form the largest minorities of the two republics and it is a predominantly Russophone region.
In December last year, Putin claimed that what is going on in the Donbass is “very reminiscent” of targeting civilians while speaking at a session of Russia’s Council for Civil Society and Human Rights. He also insisted that “Russophobia” is the first step on the road to genocide. More than 13,000 people, including children and elderly civilians, have been killed in the conflict, according to UN estimates.
Russia Accuses US Of Genocide Denial
America’s willful ignorance of atrocities being committed against Russian-speaking people in Ukraine is causing “outrage and indignation” in Moscow and is an example of Washington’s “double standards,” Russia’s ambassador to the US claimed on Thursday.
Anatoly Antonov’s statement came in response to a comment made by US State Department spokesman Ned Price, who accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of spreading allegations with “no basis of truth.” On Tuesday, Putin claimed that Kiev was committing “genocide” in Donbass, in east Ukraine.
In a statement published on Facebook, Antonov listed the shelling of residential areas and the 2014 Trade Unions House fire in Odessa as examples of Kiev targeting Russian speakers.
He also claimed that mass graves with almost 300 people had been found in the Donbass, and asserted that they had been killed because of their native language. Similar claims have been slammed by the US of being “false narratives.”
“Washington’s beautiful slogans about the supreme value of human rights are not worth a penny. The main geopolitical goal of the United States is to push Russia back to the East as far as possible,” the envoy said. “To that end, a policy to force the Russian-speaking population out of their current places of residence is needed.”
“Americans prefer not only to ignore the attempts of forced assimilation of Russians in Ukraine but also strongly condone them with political and military support,” he continued, adding that the interests of millions of Russians living in Ukraine must be protected, which he called “a guarantee of Ukraine’s statehood and territorial integrity.”
The armed conflict in Ukraine began in 2014, following the events of the Maidan, when violent street protests toppled the democratically elected government in Kiev. Shortly after, two regions declared themselves independent states, named the Donetsk (DPR) and Lugansk (LPR) People’s Republics.
Moscow has repeatedly refused to recognize the breakaway states as sovereign, instead calling for them to be integrated into Ukraine with a special status. However, earlier this week, the Russian State Duma adopted a resolution urging Putin to recognize their independence.