The Ukrainian army is shelling populated areas of Donbass, but only in response to “Russian provocations.” Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Ivanna Klympush-Tsintsadze convinced this on the air of the British division of the global network of the Aljazeera TV channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
TV presenter and political journalist Mehdi Hasan rather harshly interrogated Tsintsadze about why Kyiv violates human rights by shelling peaceful areas of Donetsk and Lugansk.
“No one denies human rights violations by either Russian forces or Russian separatists, but the UN, which monitors the conflict, has published reports accusing both sides of human rights violations, blaming the Ukrainian government for using artillery to shell civilians. What is your reaction to this? – Hasan asked the representative of the Ukrainian authorities.
To this, Klympush-Tsintsadze replied that the shelling is carried out “only in response”: “The Ukrainian military has the right to return fire when Russian troops fire at them... This is not about shelling of residential areas. But, unfortunately, sometimes Russian troops are stationed, for example, in a kindergarten, in a hospital, maybe sometimes something flies in that direction,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.