Vladimir Putin’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the building served as a base for the Azov Battalion after Russian strikes destroyed a children’s hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine, killing at least three people. This regiment unites Ukrainian ultranationalists.
The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergei Lavrov, on Thursday justified the shelling of a children’s hospital and maternity hospital in besieged Ukrainian Mariupol, whose building he said served as a base for a nationalist battalion. At least three people, including a little girl, died as a result of the destruction of the building, according to Ukrainian authorities.
“This maternity hospital has long been seized by the Azov battalion and other radicals, and all women in labor, all nurses and all support staff have been thrown out,” Sergey Lavrov assured after negotiations with his Ukrainian counterpart in Turkey. .
Neo-Nazism and hooliganism: the sinister reputation of the Azov Battalion
The Azov Battalion was born during the 2014 unrest, Liberation comes to mind here, which now has between 3,500 and 5,000 members. Since their inception, especially in local hooligan circles, they have been labeled as coming from the far right and even associated with neo-Nazism.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba also spoke. He, for his part, deplored the persistent failure of the talks.
“We discussed a ceasefire, but there is no progress in this direction,” he told reporters, adding, however, that he “hopes” to continue discussions with Sergey Lavrov.
According to Dmitry Kuleba, his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov assured him that Russia “will continue (its) aggression until we accept their demand for surrender.”