Ukraine’s Charge d'Affaires in Armenia accuses Russia in launching “war of conquest”
16:27, 1 March, 2022
YEREVAN, MARCH 1, ARMENPRESS. Ukraine's Chargé d'Affaires in Armenia Denis Avtonomov says Kiev’s official position on Russia’s military actions in Ukraine is that the actions are a “war of conquest” and not a “special operation” as stated by Moscow.
“Today is the 6th day of the war”, Avtonomov said at a press conference at the Ukrainian Embassy in Yerevan. “We are resisting for already 122 hours. New fronts are opening thanks to our defenders, the enemy is suffering losses. The international IT community has joined the destruction of the army of occupants, even Ukrainian school students are attacking in the cyberfront. Meanwhile in Russia, hundreds of thousands of people understood that the government is deceiving them, that there is no special operation, that this is a simple war of conquest where thousands of Russians have already been killed,” Avtonomov said.
The Ukrainian Chargé d'Affaires accused the Russian military in bombarding cities and the peaceful population, which Russia denies. Avtonomov said that a Russian tactical missile hit central Kharkov this morning.
“It’s the central part of the city, there are no military facilities there, residential buildings of Kharkov are bombed with Grads, this is war crime,” Avtonomov said.
Citing the Ukrainian military’s general staff, Ukraine's Chargé d'Affaires Denis Avtonomov said that 5710 Russian troops have been killed in the 6 days. Another 200 Russian troops have been taken captive, 29 warplanes, 29 helicopters, 198 tanks, 846 infantry fighting vehicles, 77 artillery systems have been destroyed, according to the official Ukrainian data.
Asked about Ukraine’s expectations from Armenia in the given situation, given that Russia is Armenia’s strategic ally, Avtonomov noted that Armenia hasn’t yet issued its official stance over the Russian military’s actions in Ukraine, but said that Armenia’s position during the February 28 vote in Geneva is “positive”.
“Armenia isn’t expressing its position now. Nevertheless, yesterday, during the UN Human Rights Council session, the issue of including the situation in Ukraine in the upcoming 49th session in Geneva was being debated. From the 47 members, 29 voted in favor, 13 abstained, including Armenia, and those who voted against are Russia, China, Venezuela, Cuba and Eritrea. This is the first time in recent years when Armenia doesn’t support Russia’s stance. We think this is a good signal and we hope that such a position will at least continue,” Avtonomov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories.
When clarifying the unfolding developments, the Russian Defense Ministry reassured that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are limited to surgically striking and incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure. However, Ukraine has numerously accused Russia in striking civilian infrastructure.
In terms of losses, the Russian military admitted in having suffered casualties but did not give numbers.