MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Vladimir Zelensky is certainly responsible for the Russian Armed Forces' attack on the venue of the Ukrainian command staff meeting in Sumy, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing.
"Under the pressure of the facts, Zelensky had to dismiss the head of the Sumy military administration [Vladimir] Artyukh. In fact, he thus confirmed the charges against him. In doing so, the junta leader tried to shift the responsibility for this next terrible war crime against his own citizens to the head of the Sumy military administration," the diplomat said. "I would like to remind Zelensky, who decided to shift the responsibility to the head of the Sumy military administration, of his own words. What did he say a few years ago? That he was 'not a dupe'? And if he is, then the responsibility is on him. Certainly, on him," Zakharova pointed out.
The diplomat wondered whether UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres was aware of what was happening in Ukraine "with these resignations, with the obituaries published for the Ukrainian military, with the use of civilians as human shields for the military assembly." "After all, he appeared 'alarmed by the missile strike by Russia on Sumy,' and the targets were perfectly legitimate. He also accused our country of attacking civilians," she pointed out. "And now that the facts have come to light, just like with the situation in Bucha, when for three years no one, including the UN chief, has had a chance to publish lists with the names of those allegedly killed there, now that it has come to light that all this is a fabricated event, I mean all these stories by the Kiev regime that Russia is allegedly deliberately hitting civilian infrastructure, children, women. Maybe someone in the UN Secretariat will still find the strength and ability to speak out about this?" Zakharova wondered.
"Now, when the elimination of militants was carried out, everyone began to unequivocally blame our country, and then, when it became clear that in order to cover up this operation, it was the Kiev authorities, it was the local Ukrainian military administration that came up with this human shield, somehow everyone suddenly ran out of words," the spokeswoman said. "Yes, it's true. The Kiev regime decided to cover their atrocities with children. And now all their handlers and sponsors are silencing all this," she underscored.
Attack on Sumy
On April 15, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers approved Artyukh's removal in the midst of a Russian military strike on the site of the Ukrainian General Staff meeting in Sumy. Later, Zakharova said that all those who accused Russia of hitting civilians in Sumy should "kneel before the world" after Ukraine itself clarifies what happened. According to her, Artyukh, who gave the order to organize a meeting of Ukrainian servicemen with the participation of women and children at the event, is to blame for this war crime. The incident caused a wave of indignation even among Ukrainians, after which Zelensky was forced to make a decision to dismiss him.
On April 13, Russian forces fired two Iskander-M missiles at the site of a gathering of the Ukrainian command staff in Sumy. As a result, more than 60 Ukrainian servicemen were killed. The Defense Ministry noted that Kiev continues to use the population as a human shield, placing military facilities and holding events with the military in the city center.