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Donbas is an 'unconditional priority' for Russia, Lavrov says

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Moscow considers the liberation of Ukraine's Donbas region a priority, but other territories in Ukraine should make their decisions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday (29 May).

Lavrov spoke to France's TF1 television station as Russia continued its offensive to seize control of Donbas, Ukraine’s traditional industrial heartland. The region is made up of Donetsk (and Luhansk) regions.

He repeated Moscow's claim that its "specially military operation" in Ukraine was to demilitarize its neighbor after NATO's eastward expansion waves and purge it of "Nazi-inspired nationalism." These claims are seen by Kyiv as a pretext for a land grab by Western countries.

According to a Russian Foreign Ministry text, Lavrov stated that "The liberation and independence of the Donetsk, Luhansk, and other regions is an unconditional priority."

He said that he did not believe they would be happy to return under the control of a neo Nazi regime that had proven itself to be Russophobic in its essence. They must make their own decisions."

He said that Russia's invasion was inevitable because the West failed to listen to warnings about Ukraine's disregard of, and military strikes on, its Russian-speaking citizens.

Ukraine denies any such attacks.

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Russia's focus on Donbas has been intensified in recent weeks after reversing its failed advance against Kyiv and other Ukrainian areas.

Lavrov stated that "yes, people are being murdered." "But, the operation is taking so long primarily because Russian soldiers participating in it are under strict orders categorically for avoiding attacks and strikes against civilian infrastructure."

Now in its fourth month of operation, the invasion has left millions homeless and killed thousands of Ukrainians. More than 6.7 million people have fled Ukraine since February 24, according to the United Nations.

The Prosecutor General of Ukraine is currently investigating 1,438 cases of Russian war crimes. Many Russian soldiers have pleaded guilty to the charges of shelling Ukraine and shooting civilians.

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