MOSCOW, July 29 (RIA Novosti) – The Kiev government intensified the military action against its own people after getting support from Western countries, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
“Having received another portion of support from the United States and the European Union, the Kiev authorities have launched a large-scale offensive on peaceful cities and civilians in eastern Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement.
Moscow called on the West to influence the Kiev authorities which went “way too far” in its punitive operation.
“Those who support the above-mentioned criminal actions also bear responsibility for civilian casualties in eastern Ukraine,” the ministry said.
Russia demands that “Kiev stops the war against its own people,” the statement said.
Lately, the situation in eastern region of Ukraine has deteriorated, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. Over the past 24 hours, 17 civilians, including three children, have been killed in the city of Horlivka, Donetsk Region. Shells destroyed a local school building and hit the territory of a hospital damaging maternity ward buildings. Since Monday, three-day mourning has been declared due to the tragic events in the city.
According to the latest UN report, the conflict between pro-Kiev forces and independence supporters in eastern Ukraine has claimed the lives of 1,129 civilians since mid-April, and 3,442 civilians were injured.
Moscow has described the ongoing military action as a punitive operation and has repeatedly called on Kiev to put an immediate end to the bloodshed.
