Dear Editor,
With the escalation of the conflict in the south-east of Ukraine the Russian Federation proposed forming an international humanitarian mission in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
According to the official information of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 1367 people have been killed and 4087 have been injured including 2589 civilians since the beginning of the punitive operation by the Ukrainian army. There are about 3.9 million people in the area of the military activities. Vital infrastructure, including power and water supplies, state and residential buildings continue to be destroyed. About 200 000 people have no access to drinking water. According to the Russian Federal Migration Service, since the beginning of August, 2014, 163 000 internally displaced persons have been recorded.
The most dramatic situation is in the health care area. About 70% of medical personnel have been forced to evacuate to safer regions, but those who stayed are in danger.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the International Organization for Migration and the International Committee of the Red Cross share Russia’s concerns about the severe humanitarian consequences of Kiev’s military operation in the south-east, and perceive Russian initiatives positively and express readiness to discuss the modalities of deploying a humanitarian mission. Despite this, the Ukrainian authorities irresponsibly refuse to recognize the evident humanitarian problems in the south-east of the country.
Russia continues to be criticized by some Western countries for the alleged supply of armaments to the militia in the south-east of Ukraine. On August 5, 2014, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navi Pillay, confirmed that there is no proof of this. Those who are engaged in the search for and spinning of such insinuations should instead show their political will and influence to stop the bloody punitive operation conducted by Kiev.
At the same time, the Russian authorities and ordinary people are perplexed that such a statement by Ms Navi Pillay was simply ignored by the Western mass media. Probably it did not fit the targeted disinformation campaign, the purpose of which is an attempt to shift the blame for the events in Ukraine on Russia.
For some period of time the Russian Federation has warned that the sanctions of some Western countries against it are unacceptable and contradict international rules and norms. It had been expected that the sanctions would be reconsidered, but no changes came. So on August 6, 2014 President of Russia Vladimir Putin signed the Executive Order on Special Economic Measures to Protect the Russian Federation’s Security that envisions bans or a restriction on the importation of particular kinds of agricultural produce, raw materials and foodstuffs originating in countries that decided to impose economic sanctions on Russia.
Yours faithfully,
Denis Kopyl
Press Attaché
Russian Embassy in Guyana