Yuri Kobzar21:05, 24.08.25

The Russian minister calls on people to believe the Russian Ministry of Defense, not UN reports or their own eyes.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denied UN information confirming systematic Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians. He made the cynical statement in an interview with the American channel  NBC News.

During the interview, the host referred to UN reports, according to which Russia has killed or injured about 50,000 civilians in Ukraine, including as a result of strikes on maternity hospitals, churches, schools, and hospitals.

“Either the Russian military is aiming terribly, or you are targeting civilians. Which one is it?” the TV presenter asked Lavrov.

To this, Russia’s chief diplomat, without a shadow of a conscience, declared that Russia was attacking only those objects that were directly related to the Ukrainian military.

“We have never attacked civilian targets like the ones you mentioned,” he said, ignoring numerous facts well documented not only by Ukrainian law enforcement, but also by foreign experts and the media.

Lavrov was also asked to comment on the strike on an American factory in Transcarpathia that produces coffee makers and other electronics. To this, the Russian Foreign Minister said that he had allegedly not heard of it (although even Donald Trump publicly commented on the story). At the same time, Lavrov said that some people “are really naive when they see a coffee maker in a shop window and think that this is a place where coffee makers are produced.”

However, Texas-based Flex Ltd., which owns the plant, previously said its Ukrainian plant is “strictly focused on manufacturing civilian products” and “does not manufacture, supply or support any military equipment or defense-related components.”

Russia’s war crimes: UN data

As UNIAN reported, in July, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas Myroslav Jencha reported that, according to the UN, since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has killed about 13,600 civilians and injured more than 34,100. However, this is only verified data, that is, it does not include victims who cannot be independently verified. That is, the assessment does not take into account, for example, the majority of deaths in Mariupol and other occupied territories, where UN experts do not have access.

And in early August, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Alice Edwards wrote a column for The New York Times, in which she spoke about systematic sexual violence by Russian soldiers , the victims of which are not only civilians in the occupied territories, but even captured Ukrainian soldiers.

(c)UNIAN 2025