The Russian State Duma acknowledged the deaths of civilians caused by the actions of Russian troops in Donbas
Andrey Gurulov, a member of the Russian State Duma and a general, stated that civilians were killed as a result of actions by Russian military personnel during the hostilities in Donbas in 2014.
The Russian politician made this statement publicly while recounting events that occurred during his command of military units.
According to Gurulov, the incident in question involved a woman and a child who were killed in a church during shelling. He claims that at the time he was commanding Russian troops in “adjacent territories” and later learned of the consequences of the strike from a local priest.
“Twelve years ago, I happened to stop by a church. In the adjacent territory, I approached a priest. ‘Father, how are things?’ And he says: ‘They bombed us here, they were shooting here, a woman and a child were killed there.’ I said, ‘Listen, I did that.’ He looked at me with such eyes. And I said, ‘I had no other choice. I had to save my people,’” Gurulov stated.
The Russian lawmaker claims that Ukrainian troops allegedly positioned tanks near the church, while civilians were inside the building. According to him, he ordered a strike on the armored vehicles in an attempt to avoid destroying the religious building.
“I told my artillery commander: ‘We need to take out the tanks without destroying the church—there are people inside.’ They were right next to each other. He managed to do it,” the lawmaker said.
At the same time, the general acknowledged that one of the shells did hit the church building, resulting in civilian casualties.
Gurulov also stated that he did not ask people for forgiveness for the deaths of civilians.
“I’m not asking people to forgive me or anything like that. I just want you to tell people the truth during your sermon. If necessary, God will forgive me; if not—then no, I didn’t deserve it. But people need to know the truth,” he said.
In addition, the Russian politician expressed the view that during a war, it is impossible to completely avoid so-called “collateral damage” among the civilian population.
Separately, Gurulov called for strikes on Kyiv’s civilian infrastructure. He stated the need to paralyze the capital’s transportation, utilities, and energy systems.
“In Kyiv? In Kyiv. So that there is no train station in Kyiv, so that there is nowhere to go. So that not a single locomotive moves from its spot. So that there is no water, no electricity, no sewage system—nothing at all,” the Russian general declared.
A State Duma deputy also spoke in favor of further intensifying missile and drone strikes on Ukrainian cities, stating the need to continue attacks on Ukraine’s infrastructure facilities.
Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the Russian State Duma’s Committee on International Affairs, called for massive strikes on Kyiv, Boryspil Airport, and the railway bridges across the Dnipro River.
As a reminder, a moment where Putin was unable to say “Hurrah!” was edited out of broadcasts in Russia.
In Russia, Central Bank employees will be allowed to carry weapons for protection against drones.
