MOSCOW, January 16. /TASS/. French politician and International Russophile Movement Vice President Fabrice Sorlin told TASS in an interview that during humanitarian trips to Donbass even before the start of the special military operation, he saw with his own eyes the bodies of civilians killed as a result of Ukrainian shelling.

After the 2014 coup d’etat, Pyotr Poroshenko's government came to power, which "openly proclaimed its goal of persecuting Russian-speaking residents of eastern Ukraine and supporters of Russia." "Having visited frontline settlements many times, I saw mutilated families, murdered women and children. The Kiev army, already supported by NATO at that time, shelled residential areas, kindergartens, schools, and civilians' homes," the politician recalled.

According to him, the organization he belongs to, which helps residents of Donbass, "had to relocate families to safe places because their homes were bombed by Kiev's nationalist battalions." "It was a real genocide," Sorlin emphasized.

According to the authorities of the Donetsk People’s Republic, 4,362 people, including 91 children, have been killed in the region since the start of the conflict in 2014 and before the start of the special operation. A total of 7,819 people, including 453 children, have been injured. According to the authorities of the Lugansk People’s Republic, 2,269 civilians, including 35 children, have been killed between 2014 and February 2022. Nearly 8,000 civilians, including 90 children, have been injured.