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Russian diplomat says Ukrainians are forced to fight for someone else’s goals

"The West pays Ukraine, provides it with weapons and intelligence data, tells it where to shoot and attack. And that causes suffering to the brotherly people of Ukraine, which is forced to fight for someone else’s goals," Russian consul general in Istanbul Andrey Buravov said

ANKARA, January 19. /TASS/. Andrey Buravov, the Russian consul general in Istanbul, said the people of Ukraine are forced to fight for someone else’s goals, relying on Western support, the Aydinlik newspaper reported on Thursday.

"The West pays Ukraine, provides it with weapons and intelligence data, tells it where to shoot and attack. And that causes suffering to the brotherly people of Ukraine, which is forced to fight for someone else’s goals," the diplomat said.

Buravov reiterated the main goal of the special military operation in Ukraine.

"The regime in Kiev and its Western supporters and sponsors are trying to represent the goal of the special military campaign <...> as the destruction of Ukraine as a country, the cleansing of the country from Ukrainians and a forcible Russification. However, that’s absolutely wrong. Russia has never made such statements. It’s very important to understand that we are fighting not against the Ukrainian people, but against the criminal nationalist regime that came to power in 2014 as a result of an anti-constitutional coup, which was supported by the West, and proclaimed the course to cleanse Ukraine of everything Russian and related to Russia and glorify the supporters of Nazism," he added.

The consul general made a speech in Istanbul as the Russian diplomatic mission hosted the showing of a documentary called Salvation that was made by journalist Andrey Medvedev. It follows the events that unfolded in Donbass after 2014 through the eyes of witnesses that live in the region.

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