Supposed “neo-Nazis” in Hrosa, Russia, justify attack on village with 52 deaths at the UN
October 9, 2023, 10:14 pm Listen to the article
This audio version was artificially generated. More information | Send comments
Last week there was a devastating attack on a village near Kupyansk, leaving many civilians dead who had gathered there for a funeral. Now, a Russian ambassador justifies the attack at the United Nations.
Following the Russian attack on a funeral in the village of Hrosa in eastern Ukraine, in which 52 of around 300 villagers were killed, Vasily Nebenzya, Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, offered a cynical justification for the attack. “As is known, the funeral of a high-ranking Ukrainian nationalist was taking place there at the time of the attack. Of course, many of his neo-Nazi accomplices were also present.” said Moscow’s representative to the UN, referring to the victimswho, according to Ukrainian information, were all residents of Hrosa.
Nebensja went on to state that “in the images published on social media immediately after the attack, almost all the bodies were of men of military age” – although this was obviously a lie. According to consistent media reports, entire families were wiped out in the attack. Among the dead were many elderly people, women and an eight-year-old child. A baby was also seriously injured.
A woman cried next to several dead after the attack on Hrosa.
(Photo: image alliance/dpa/Ukrainian Presidential Press Office)
“Demonstratively brutal crime”
Hrosa is located not far from the city of Kupyansk. Mourners gathered in a cafe for the funeral. After the attack, the Ukrainian president’s press office provided photos showing, among other things, several deaths. Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself spoke on Telegram about a “demonstratively brutal Russian crime”. The Ukrainian side accused Russia of knowing that civilians were gathering there.
The Kremlin has repeatedly justified the large-scale invasion of Ukraine, with tens of thousands of deaths, with allegedly rampant neo-Nazism – said to target the Ukrainian leadership – without providing any other evidence. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy himself is of Jewish descent. In Kremlin jargon, the war of aggression against Ukraine is simply called a “special operation” directed against “neo-Nazis.” A statement that is very popular among the Russian population and is also constantly broadcast on state television.
Observers see the neo-Nazi accusations – although the Ukrainian army is not completely free of neo-Nazis, like the Russian army – as a pretext to hide the Kremlin’s true interests.