RUSSIA has angrily dismissed imperialist claims of war-crimes that the Ukrainians say took place when the Kiev region was in Russian hands, demanding a full debate at the UN Security Council that began mid-week after being repeatedly stalled by the British delegation.

Although Russian troops have ended their partial siege of Kiev and pulled back to the border in north-west Ukraine, hopes that this would lead to a speedy cease-fire were soon dashed by the imperialists, who are using Ukrainian claims of Russian atrocities to sabotage the peace process by stepping up their sanctions regime and pumping in more arms to the Zelensky regime.

But in People’s China Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the USA must stop adding fuel to the fire by imposing sanctions on Russia if Washington wants to help de-escalate the Ukraine tensions. “If the US really wants to contribute to the de-escalation of the situation in Ukraine, they must stop adding fuel to the fire, stop brandishing the sanctions baton, and really promote peace negotiations,” Zhao told reporters on Wednesday.

On the eastern front, Russian and Donbas troops are mopping up the last pockets of resistance in the strategic Black Sea port of Mariupol. On Monday, 267 Ukrainian marines and 30 other soldiers surrendered to Russian and Donbas forces whilst the hated Azov brigade, based in a stronghold in the industrial complex, has been driven out of the centre of town. Meanwhile Russian units continue their offensive to drive the fascists out of eastern Ukraine, pushing past the liberated town of Izum to plant their victory banner on Mount Kremenets in the Kharkov region.

This week the Russian government rejected accusations by Ukraine of killing civilians in the town of Bucha in the Kiev region. They stressed that the photos of alleged victims were staged by Kiev to spread them in the Western media. The Kremlin condemned Kiev’s “provocation”, arguing that it complicated negotiations between the two countries aimed at ending the Russian special military operation that was launched on 24th February.

The Russian Defence Ministry stressed that no residents of Bucha were harmed by Russian servicemen whilst they were there. The ministry also noted that the residents of the city were allowed to leave via humanitarian corridors and that the southern portion of the town was routinely shelled by Ukrainian forces.

The Defence Ministry pointed out that Russian forces left the city on 30th March and that the town’s mayor reported no bodies on the streets when he confirmed their departure the next day.

The Russian ministry additionally noted that Bucha’s residents had access to cell networks throughout the Russian Army’s stay there. The footage and the photos only emerged four days later, when the Ukrainian Security Service and the media arrived in Bucha.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the whole point of the provocation was to thwart the talks process, which started showing results during the last round of in-person talks held in Istanbul last week.

Meanwhile Russian communist leader Gennady Zyuganov has accused the imperialists of turning a blind eye to the barbaric acts and the use of human shields by the Ukrainian fascists. “The taking of hostages by terrorists in the West is always being presented as a terrible crime. Meanwhile, dozens of cities and towns have been turned into hostages in Ukraine, whose residents are not allowed by the local Nazis to leave the areas of hostilities. The official authorities of Ukraine do not contribute to the creation of humanitarian corridors, but obstruct in every possible way the departure of citizens from settlements in combat areas…. the Communist Party strongly condemns the heinous joint provocation of Ukrainian and Western politicians and demands a comprehensive and scrutinised investigation not staged fakes, but of numerous real crimes of Bandera Nazis, including the brutal torture of Russian military.”

Editor: Zhong Yao、Zheng Yifan

From:http://www.newworker.org/archive2022/nw20220408/russia_dismisses_imperialist_lies.html.（2022-4-8）