War waged by Ukraine in Donbas, Novorossiya has caused 19,000-plus casualties: Russia

Mumbai, June 26 (PTI) A Russian envoy on Wednesday claimed that the "war waged by the Kiev regime" in Donbas and Novorossiya regions has caused more than 19,000 casualties including at least 13,000 civilian deaths.

The conflict can not end unless Ukraine ceases to be a "puppet" in the hands of other powers, said Rodion Miroshnik, ambassador-at-large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Speaking at an event at the Russian House here, he said there has been a "total degradation" of international norms and political and diplomatic mechanisms used to resolve conflicts during the ongoing war.

"A total of 19,300 casualties have been caused by the war waged by the Kiev regime in Donbas and territories of Novorossiya. The civilian death toll has already exceeded 13,000," he said.

"The state of Ukraine itself has become a means for waging a war in someone's wrong hands. The conflict can only be ended if and when Ukraine ceases to be a puppet in the hands of others and is regained by its own people," he said in an apparent reference to the West.

The conflict, notably, is different from the ongoing war between the two countries.

Rodion further alleged that over the last ten years, Kiev forces have attacked civilians, targeting public places like market places and cafes with missiles.

In February 2022, just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Moscow recognised the independence of rebel Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine, known as Donbas.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's move followed days of heightened tensions in Ukraine's eastern industrial heartland where Ukrainian forces are locked in a nearly eight-year conflict with Russia-backed separatists.

In April 2014, Russia-backed rebels seized government buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, proclaimed the creation of people's republics, and battled Ukrainian troops and volunteer battalions. PTI PR KRK