MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. The Ukrainian armed forces have been conducting punitive operations against civilians ahead of liberation of territories by Russian troops, Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry on the Crimes committed by the Kiev Regime, told reporters.

According to the diplomat, as the Russian Armed Forces advance and liberate major population centers, the Ukrainian troops have begun to employ the ‘scorched earth’ tactics, preventing civilians from evacuating to Russian-controlled territory. "I've spoken with hundreds of people who evacuated to our side. These people clearly state that the Ukrainian troops who arrived in this territory don’t talk to them, they treat them as enemies, and at the last moment, they carry out punitive operations to simply kill these people. This happened in Selidov, this happened in Avdeyevka. <...> Similar situations are in Kupyansk, similar situations in the Zaporozhye area," he said.

Miroshnik said that this situation reflects the real policy pursued by the Kiev authorities today. "Their main goal is to destroy everything that remains in the territory that Ukrainian armed forces are leaving, to destroy all industrial facilities, to destroy all infrastructure, and to commit another crime that concerns the Convention on 'inhumane' weapons. That is, when people remain there, they try to burn down houses where people are hiding in basements, and this is done with the help of drones," he emphasized.

The diplomat also noted that the collected data was used in the report of the International Public Tribunal on the Crimes of Ukrainian Neo-Nazis "Crimes of the Kiev Regime Against Women and Children." He emphasized that the Russian side, unlike the Ukrainian and European sides, confirms with facts all materials that are transferred to international organizations.