Zakharova called Russia's operation in Donbass a necessary measure to prevent victims
Photo: Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters
It is a great misfortune that Russia is forced to resort to such measures, but a Russian military operation is necessary to prevent further casualties and end the war in Donbass, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
“It is a great misfortune that we are forced to resort to such methods. Eight years of our policy, our efforts, our round-the-clock work has been spent on showing and proving that the peaceful, negotiated way of resolving the most acute conflict, which at the time of 2015 was already bloody, is a priority, that any development of events according to a different, non-negotiated scenario tragic in its essence and should be avoided in every way,” the diplomat said.
She added that “a military operation is needed to end a war that has dragged on for many years.” The diplomat also called “the information service of the Western media for the Kiev regime” criminal. “How many more years was the bloodshed in eastern Ukraine supposed to continue? Not knowing and not seeing [the need for the operation] is just as criminal as serving the [media] of the Kiev regime all these years,” Zakharova commented.
Earlier, at a briefing, Zakharova said that the Russian diplomatic mission, which was evacuated from Ukraine shortly before the start of the operation in Donbass, was threatened with direct reprisals from Ukrainian nationalists.
