MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center, on Wednesday said Ukraine mistakenly shelled a market in Lisichansk and is now preparing a provocation to accuse Russia of war crimes.
"The Kiev regime doesn’t stop attempts at provocations in order to accuse the Russian armed forces of war crimes," he said. "Another such staging with the death of supposedly civilians as a result of a fabricated shelling by Russian units was prepared by specialists of the information and psychological operations of the armed forces of Ukraine for its presentation to the world community in the coming days."
According to the official, Ukrainian and Western media will be invited to the site. "Damaged equipment is being brought to the central market in the city of Lisichansk, which was mistakenly shelled by units of the 57th motorized infantry brigade of the armed forces of Ukraine the day before, while ambulances are delivering bodies of troops of the armed forces of Ukraine, which are dressed as civilians," Mizintsev said.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in response to a request for help by the heads of the Donbass republics. He stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, but aims to demilitarize and de-Nazify the country. The Russian Defense Ministry said that Russian troops are not targeting Ukrainian cities, but are incapacitating Ukrainian military infrastructure.