Vladimir Putin’s defiant foreign minister says Russia is ‘not sparkling clean and not ashamed’ – World News

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia had not “invaded Ukraine” but insisted it had launched “a special military operation” and “denazified” the country

Vladimir Putin’s defiant foreign minister has said Russia isn’t squeaky clean — and isn’t ashamed of it.

Thousands of innocent civilians were killed and forced to flee Ukraine for their safety after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said so the BBC that Russia did not “invade Ukraine” but insisted that it “launch 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” .

Mr Lavrov, 72, continues to reiterate the Kremlin line that there were Nazis in Russia and their military was “denazifying” the country – while the US accused Mr Lavrov of spreading the false lie that Ukraine was the aggressor.

Liz Truss, Britain’s Foreign Secretary, said last month that Putin was humbling himself on the world stage and “we must make sure he suffers defeat in Ukraine.”

Lavrov responded by admitting that Britain had “once again sacrificed the interests of its people for political ambition”.

According to a United Nations report, 360 Ukrainian residents, including 74 children, were forced by Russian forces to stay in the basement of a school without toilets – as 10 elderly died.

He was quoted from the United Nations’ official report on the Ukrainian village of Yahidne in the Chernihiv region, which states: “360 residents, including 74 children and five people with disabilities, were forced by Russian forces to stay in the basement of the village for 28 days village to remain a school… There were no toilet facilities, no water… 10 elderly people died”.

And when asked if the report showed them fighting Nazis, he replied: “It’s a shame.

“But international diplomats, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Secretary-General and other UN officials, are under pressure from the West.

“And very often they are used to amplify fake news spread by the West.

“Russia is not squeaky clean. Russia is what it is. And we are not ashamed to show who we are.”

He dismissed the idea that the West believed Russia was responsible for its sanctions, telling the BBC: “I don’t care at all for the West’s eyes. I am only interested in international law.

“Under international law, mercenaries are not recognized as combatants.”