Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris has said Ireland remains “steadfast” in its support for Ukraine in a statement that has caused a reaction from the Russian embassy.
Mr Harris accused Russia of escalating the war in Ukraine with more than 2,000 drone and missile attacks on Ukraine since June 1st.
In response, the Russian embassy accused Mr Harris of “pathetically” suggesting Russia is deliberately targeting civilians.
In a statement issued after a week of heavy bombardment of Ukraine, Mr Harris said Russian attacks have been predominantly against civilian targets including a maternity hospital.
Alleged Kinahan associate sent daughters to exclusive Swiss school despite no legitimate income, High Court hears
Man (41) charged with causing serious harm after man dies following Balbriggan crash
Early assessments indicate Iran’s uranium stockpile largely intact, European governments told
Irishman Morgan McSweeney: the softly-spoken chief of staff to Keir Starmer now facing questions
“I condemn them completely, as I do Russia’s ongoing war of aggression,” he said. “I extend my condolences to the families of those who have been killed and injured. Our solidarity with Ukraine remains steadfast.
“Russia started this war. As the aggressor, it is for Russia to demonstrate a genuine commitment towards peace by halting its brutal attacks. It can do so at any time,” he said.
Last week the Russian ambassador to Ireland Yuriy Filatov accused Ireland of supporting “state terrorism by the Kiev [sic] regime” and being “de facto accomplices” in the blowing up of a train bridge near the Russian city of Bryansk that killed seven civilians.
He warned the Irish Government Russia would hold it and other European governments responsible for Ukraine’s actions and they “should be aware that the day of reckoning will inevitably come”.
In a follow-up statement issued on Thursday, the embassy accused Mr Harris of “anti-Russian propaganda which distorts reality and misleads the public”.
[ Russia attacks Kyiv with missiles and drones ‘in response’ to Ukraine actionsOpens in new window ]
Despite video and photographic footage that shows Russian attacks on residential buildings and a maternity hospital in the last week, the embassy claimed Russia “never” targets civilians and is only interested in military installations in Ukraine.
These include missile, armour and shipbuilding industry enterprises in Kyiv, command posts, military equipment of Ukrainian formations and factories producing long-range drones.
The embassy claimed that Russia is committed to a peaceful settlement of the Ukrainian war and had sought diplomatic ways to avoid war in 2014, 2021 and 2022.
The West’s plans, the embassy concluded, has “always been not peace in Ukraine but imposition of war on Ukrainian and Russian peoples. Now the West reaps what it sows, trying to shift the blame to Russia. The world and the large part of the Irish public are not buying that.”
