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Use of army against population in Ukraine must not be justified

Reports about the Ukrainian side's use of weapons prohibited by the international law must be studied thoroughly

MOSCOW, June 14 /ITAR-TASS/ Russia will never agree that actions to suppress protests and the use of the army against the civilian population are presented as fight against terrorism, the Russian presidential envoy for international cooperation in fight against terrorism and transnational organized crime, Alexander Zmeyevsky, is cited by the Russian Foreign Ministry as saying.

"It is absolutely inadmissible when under the banner of fight against terrorism, as it in Ukraine, actions are taken to suppress protest movements and troops are used against the civilian population, with support and blessing from outside and relying on radical nationalists. It is an unacceptable form of violence, a way to a full-scale civil war and nothing else but crime against own people," he said at a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, discussing a global counter-terrorist strategy of the organization.

Reports about the Ukrainian side's use of weapons prohibited by the international law must be studied thoroughly, he added.

The Russian envoy expressed concern over mass violations of rights of compatriots in Ukraine and recalled what tragedy happened in Odessa on May 2, when ultra nationalists burned and killed scores of their civilian fellow countrymen, including old people, women and children, about which Ukrainian media deliberately kept quiet.

"We are proposed to take the terrible crime as manifestation of patriotism," he noted. "The international community will never agree with such a cynical interpretation of crimes against humanity."

Zmeyevsky believes the United Nations in connection with the situation in Ukraine, along with efforts to achieve cessation of violence and solve humanitarian problems, must address problems to overcome radicalization of public and political sentiments leading to terrorism and violence manifestations. "First of all, these are problems of spread of extremist and terrorist ideas under slogans of ultra nationalism, neo-Nazism and fascism. This is a danger that must be nipped in the bud, urgently and effectively."

"Crimes against own people must not be concealed under the cover of fight against terrorism," he stressed. "Sooner or later, there will be account before a court, the international community and own conscience," he believes.