Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu discussed the situation in Ukraine in detail with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. The telephone conversation, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, took place on Friday evening. It is noted that the head of the Russian Defense Ministry informed the UN Secretary General about the reasons for the decision to conduct a special military operation. "They were caused by the fact that the leadership of Ukraine for 8 years refused to comply with the Minsk agreements, encouraged the entry of nationalists and neo-Nazis into all power structures, and recently sharply intensified the shelling of the civilian population of Donbass," Shoigu said.
The Russian military commander also noted that negotiations on a peaceful settlement of the conflict have not moved beyond the zero mark. "Washington and Western countries, instead of forcing the Kiev regime to stop the genocide against the population of the south-east of their country, began pumping Ukraine with weapons and ammunition, preparing it for the resolution of the conflict by force. The support of Western countries inspired Kiev to such an extent that it announced claims to possess nuclear weapons. The meaning of Ukraine's existence has become hostile opposition to Russia, through the efforts of the West, it has turned into a territory from which a serious threat to Russia's security emanates," the military quoted its head as saying.
Sergei Shoigu stressed that high-precision weapons are used during the special operation, they only disable military infrastructure facilities. Moreover, those that, according to the Russian military, were deliberately created "in order to militarize Ukraine and conduct a brutal punitive operation against the civilian population of southeastern Ukraine."
The UN Secretary General was informed that the Russian army does not threaten civilians, does not fire at civilian objects and fully complies with the requirements of international humanitarian law.
The Russian Defense Minister drew Guterres' special attention to the fact that nationalist and neo-Nazi formations, in which there are also foreign mercenaries, are covered by civilians as a "human shield". "There is objective data on how they place heavy military equipment - tanks, MLRS, artillery and mortars - in residential areas of cities, acting like savage bandits, ignoring the threats posed by this to civilians," Sergei Shoigu said.
According to the Russian minister, the attitude of the Kiev regime to the fact that detachments of the armed forces of Ukraine and nationalists take foreign citizens hostage is extremely perplexing. Including thousands of young people, students who studied in Ukraine. For example, for more than two days at the railway station in Kharkiv, they held more than 3 thousand Indian citizens, mostly students. An attempt made by students from India to leave Kharkov on foot to Belgorod was stopped, they were detained, forcing them to return at gunpoint. Most of them are still being held, including in the city of Sumy. Neo-Nazis also opened fire on Chinese students who tried to leave Kharkov. Two of them were injured. Hundreds of foreigners are trying to leave the war zone, but they are not allowed to do so. In fact, they are being held hostage, putting their lives at great risk.
At the same time, Russian servicemen have created corridors for the exit of civilians in areas controlled by Russian units of the Armed Forces. At the same time, according to the Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation, the nationalists do not allow them to do this at gunpoint.
"The UN Secretary General thanked the Russian Defense Minister for assistance in the evacuation of UN personnel from the territory of Ukraine, which took place in an organized manner, without any incidents. And he also asked to increase the effectiveness of cooperation between the relevant UN structures and the Russian Defense Ministry to resolve humanitarian issues in Ukraine," the Russian military department explained, adding that Sergei Shoigu had already supported Mr. Guterres' request.
Ivan Petrov