The United Nations must recognize the Ukrainian incursion into Russia’s Kursk Region as a blatant act of “terrorism,” Moscow’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, has said. She also expressed hope that the international body would fully assess the destruction caused by Kiev’s forces on Russian territory.
Ukrainian forces launched a cross-border attack into Kursk Region on the morning of August 6, occupying several border villages. The Russian government has declared a state of emergency in the area and has launched a counterterrorism operation in response.
According to acting Kursk Governor Aleksey Smirnov, at least 12 civilians have been killed and another 121 wounded, including ten children, as a result of the incursion. In addition, more than 120,000 residents have been forced to leave their homes.
Speaking to Sputnik Radio on Wednesday, Zakharova urged the UN to clearly define Ukraine’s aggression not merely as a “human rights violation, but rather terrorism against civilians on the part of the Kiev regime.”
“Terrorist threats, actions, attacks – that’s a whole different [legal] qualification. These two definitions should not be conflated,” the diplomat stressed.
Commenting on recent remarks by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) about a possible mission to Kursk, Zakharova said: “I want to hope that what [UN representatives] stated is not a stunt or an attempt to wash their hands of [the humanitarian situation].”
The Foreign Ministry spokeswoman suggested that if the UN reaches a belated understanding of the true nature of Ukraine’s actions in Kursk, it should also asses human rights violations perpetrated by Kiev against Russian civilians in Crimea and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.
OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said on Tuesday that the international body had “requested access to Russian territory” as UN personnel are “trying to gather information about the situation in Kursk Region.”
The OHCHR has acknowledged that at least four Russian civilians have been killed as a result of what it termed a “Ukrainian military operation.”
In a Telegram post on Sunday, Russian human rights ombudswoman Tatyana Moskalkova revealed that she had asked the UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, to formally “condemn the terrorism on the part of Ukraine.”
Moscow has characterized Kiev’s incursion into Kursk as a large-scale provocation, accusing Ukrainian troops of indiscriminate attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.