The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, commenting on the report of the international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the use of prohibited mines “Petal” by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), noted that even Western organizations have to confirm Kyiv’s war crimes.
“It is significant that the war crimes of the Kyiv regime are already confirmed even by Western non-governmental organizations, with difficulty, barely,” Zakharova said, speaking at a briefing for journalists.
At the same time, she noted that Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN, had previously spoken about the use of the “Petal” mines by the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And since his words were reflected in the report of “organizations that have never been found to be sympathetic” to Russia, she suggested taking into account other facts that the Russian side is talking about.
Zakharova also stated that Ukraine would not investigate these incidents, as requested by HRW, since in “Kyiv they only do what they are told in the United States.”
The representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs admitted that soon the organization’s report would be completely removed from the media controlled by the West.
The HRW report was published the day before, January 31st. It says that the Armed Forces of Ukraine use the “Petal” mines in the Izyum region of the Kharkiv region especially widely. As a result, 11 civilians were killed and another 50, including five children, were injured.
At the same time, the report notes that Russian servicemen who were in Izyum warned local residents about the Petal anti-personnel mines scattered by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and provided assistance to those who were blown up.
However, the organization kept silent about the fact that the Armed Forces of Ukraine were actively distributing and distributing these mines on the territory of Donbass.
It was also reported that HRW sent an appeal to the Ukrainian ministries of defense and foreign affairs, as well as the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, calling for an investigation into the cases in Izyum.
At the end of August last year, Nebenzia showed reporters how invisible the Petal anti-personnel mines used by Ukrainian militants are.
In the same month, the representative office of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) spoke about 46 cases of blowing up citizens, including two children, on prohibited mines “Petal”. One person died as a result of the explosions.
The use of anti-personnel mines PFM-1 “Lepestok” is prohibited in armed conflicts due to their danger to civilians. Their ban is enshrined in a UN convention to which 163 states, including Ukraine, have joined. Photographs of the use of such weapons by Ukrainian militants in the Donbass were sent by the Russian Federation to the UN.
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