Latest news with #DmitryBelik
Russia Today
5 hours ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia accuses Ukraine of self-inflicted genocide in feud over troop remains
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has branded Ukraine's failure to receive the bodies of its fallen soldiers an act of self-genocide, accusing Kiev of turning its back on its own people in both life and death. During talks between the two sides in Istanbul on Monday, Moscow decided to return the bodies of over 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers in a unilateral humanitarian gesture. However, Russia's top negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said on Saturday that the Ukrainian team failed to show up when the first batch of remains was delivered to the exchange point on the border between Belarus and Ukraine. Zakharova took to Telegram later on Saturday to slam the deliberate inaction of Vladimir Zelensky's government, saying that it 'does not need its people; neither dead nor alive.' 'There is no nation or ethnic group in the world that would refuse to bury its soldiers. But there is the Kiev regime, which professes a misanthropic ideology and is committing genocide against its own people,' Zakharova wrote. Russian MP Dmitry Belik, who is a member of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, told RT that one of the reasons for Ukraine failing to accept the bodies of its soldiers could be its unwillingness to pay compensation to their families. 'This is how – thinking of how to stuff their own wallets and not give a penny to their citizens – the Kiev regime, led by Zelensky, pursues its bloody policy and destroys its own people,' Belik argued. Former Pentagon analyst Michael Maloof also suggested that Ukraine's decision could be rooted in financial concerns. 'I think they are embarrassed by the numbers,' he told RT. 'I've heard sums up around more than a billion dollars that they would have to repay to families – and they don't have the money,' he added. The chairman of the Russian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutsky, told RT that the move by the Ukrainian authorities is an example of 'rare cynicism and a disregard for the memory of their own fallen servicemen.' 'In a war to the last Ukrainian, they are exclusively focused on preserving their own power, even at the cost of actual sacrilege,' Slutsky said. Kiev explained its refusal to collect the remains of its troops by claiming the date of the transfer had not yet been agreed upon.
Russia Today
a day ago
- Politics
- Russia Today
Russia accuses Ukraine of self-genocide in feud over troop remains
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has branded Ukraine's failure to receive the bodies of its fallen soldiers an act of self-genocide, accusing Kiev of turning its back on its own people in both life and death. During talks between the two sides in Istanbul on Monday, Moscow decided to return the bodies of over 6,000 Ukrainian soldiers in a unilateral humanitarian gesture. However, Russia's top negotiator, Vladimir Medinsky, said on Saturday that the Ukrainian team failed to show up when the first batch of remains was delivered to the exchange point on the border between Belarus and Ukraine. Zakharova took to Telegram later on Saturday to slam the deliberate inaction of Vladimir Zelensky's government, saying that it 'does not need its people; neither dead nor alive.' 'There is no nation or ethnic group in the world that would refuse to bury its soldiers. But there is the Kiev regime, which professes a misanthropic ideology and is committing genocide against its own people,' Zakharova wrote. Russian MP Dmitry Belik, who is a member of the State Duma's International Affairs Committee, told RT that one of the reasons for Ukraine failing to accept the bodies of its soldiers could be its unwillingness to pay compensation to their families. 'This is how – thinking of how to stuff their own wallets and not give a penny to their citizens – the Kiev regime, led by Zelensky, pursues its bloody policy and destroys its own people,' Belik argued. Former Pentagon analyst Michael Maloof also suggested that Ukraine's decision could be rooted in financial concerns. 'I think they are embarrassed by the numbers,' he told RT. 'I've heard sums up around more than a billion dollars that they would have to repay to families – and they don't have the money,' he added. The chairman of the Russian parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutsky, told RT that the move by the Ukrainian authorities is an example of 'rare cynicism and a disregard for the memory of their own fallen servicemen.' 'In a war to the last Ukrainian, they are exclusively focused on preserving their own power, even at the cost of actual sacrilege,' Slutsky said. Kiev explained its refusal to collect the remains of its troops by claiming the date of the transfer had not yet been agreed upon.
Russia Today
17-02-2025
- Politics
- Russia Today
Ukrainian strike on US-linked energy infrastructure is Zelensky's ‘demarche'
A Ukrainian drone strike on a major oil pumping station in southern Russia could be a sign of Kiev's frustration over waning US support, Russian MP Dmitry Belik told RT on Monday. Earlier in the day, the Russian Defense Ministry reported an attack on the Kropotkinskaya pumping station, operated by the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC). In 2024, US companies controlled some 40% of oil supplies shipped via the pipeline project. The attack was 'hardly a coincidence,' Belik said, adding that it could be a 'demarche' by Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky, who is supposedly 'gradually losing' Washington's backing. The Ukrainian leader 'could be venting his frustration… in such a way,' said the lawmaker, who is a member of the Russian State Duma's International Affairs Committee. According to Russian Senator Andrey Klimov, some of Kiev's Western backers could be behind the strike as well. Some 'forces' within the US and the UK are willing to undertake 'any provocations' to 'get under the skin' of US President Donald Trump or make him change his current political course, claimed Klimov, who is the deputy head of Russian Federation Council's International Affairs committee. The strike could also be due to the Ukrainian military not studying the target properly, said Igor Yushkov, a senior analyst with the National Energy Security Fund – a private Russian think tank. 'The military that choose targets… are people that have no clue about what those pipelines are,' he told RT. Kiev may have just considered the station a 'convenient target,' he added. According to the Russian media, the Kropotkinskaya pumping station is located in the Russian Krasnodar Region, some 230 kilometers away from the port city of Novorossiysk, and is far away from any other Russian energy facilities. Following Monday's strike, the station was taken out of service, the CPC said. No injuries have been reported by either the operator or the Russian Defense Ministry. All of the company's shareholders, including US and European, were informed about the 'terrorist drone attack on a civilian target and its outcome,' the company stated. CPC is one of the largest international oil transportation projects in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), with the participation of Russia, Kazakhstan, and a consortium of leading oil companies, including US giant Chevron.
