All news

Russia concerned about reports of escalation in Yemen — Foreign Ministry

Moscow urges the parties involved in the conflict to refrain from any action that could result in new casualties among the civilian population and the degradation of the humanitarian situation, the statement reads

MOSCOW, January 25. /TASS/. Moscow is concerned about an escalation of the situation in Yemen and around it, and urges all parties involved in the conflict to refrain from any action that would entail new civilian casualties and worsen the humanitarian situation, the Foreign Ministry said in a report on Tuesday.

"We urge the parties involved in the conflict to refrain from any action that could result in new casualties among the civilian population and the degradation of the humanitarian situation. We work on the premise that an exchange of strikes and related violations of the international humanitarian law are a direct result of the acute military-political crisis in Yemen that has continued for already almost seven years, and a new escalation of which creates a real threat for regional security," the Foreign Ministry said.

According to the latest information, between January 20 and 22, massive airstrikes were made on military and civilian facilities on territories under the control of Ansar Allah (Houthis), the ministry said. A prison was demolished in Saada governorate on January 21. As a result, preliminary reports put the death toll at 87 people, saying that 220 people were wounded. In Al Hudaydah governorate, a telecommunications center was destroyed and an underwater cable was damaged, cutting off access to the Internet for most of Yemen, the Foreign Ministry said.

For their part, overnight to January 24, the Houthis used ballistic missiles to shell the Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates and an industrial area in Saudi Arabia’s Jizan Region. At the same time, they threatened that "air strikes on neighboring states will be continued until the aggression against Yemen stops," the ministry said.

Moscow is strongly convinced that the launch of an inclusive intra-Yemeni negotiation under the UN auspices would help to scale down confrontation and settle the numerous problems facing Yemen today. "We intend to actively support the respective efforts of UN secretary general’s special envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg," the ministry stressed.