The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Sergiy Lavrov, confirmed that the bombing of the hospital and maternity ward in Mariupol was the Russian military's conscious and deliberate decision. He stated it during the press conference in Antalya after negotiations with the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs head, Dmytro Kuleba, “Ukrainska Pravda” writes.
Lavrov emphasized that he considers this maternity ward to be a military target.
“A few days ago, at the meeting of the UN Security Council, the Russian delegation presented the facts that this maternity hospital has been occupied by the “Azov” battalion and other radical forces. All the new mothers, nurses, and staff were expelled from the building. This was the base of the ultraradical “Azov” battalion,” he stated.
Lavrov admitted that he saw the reports from Mariupol that prove precisely the opposite, as the cameras showed that there were mothers in the hospital who were wounded. However, he considers them manipulations because “there was no attention to the other side of the story” in the media reports.
“It is not the first time that we have seen the emotional cries about the so-called atrocities of the Russian armed forces,” Lavrov said.
Earlier today, Russia resumed the airstrikes on Mariupol and again targets the residential districts.
The negotiations between Dmytro Kuleba and Serhii Lavrov had no results. “It is impossible to stop the war if the country that conducted the attack has no desire to do so,” the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs said.