Foreign outlets do not provide balanced coverage of alleged atrocities by Ukraine in the occupied Russian territory, the Kremlin spokesman has said
Western media outlets have been deliberately ignoring reported atrocities by Ukrainian forces in Russia’s Kursk Region, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said.
Accusing the Western media of biased reporting, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday condemned what he called a lack of balanced coverage of alleged atrocities by Ukrainian forces. Responding to a TASS inquiry about the purported massacre in the recently liberated village of Nikolayevo-Daryino, he criticized the media for ignoring these incidents.
Almost all of the male residents of the village near the Russian-Ukrainian border have been killed since Ukrainian forces took control during a cross-border offensive in August 2024, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. People were held hostage for more than six months until Russia recaptured the settlement on January 27, the ministry reported.
Despite the severity of these allegations, Peskov said the Western media has largely remained silent.
“They are not willing to provide balanced, truthful information even on such monstrous atrocities,” he stated, adding that this reflects a broader trend of selective reporting on the conflict.
Russian officials claim similar crimes may have occurred in other villages in Kursk Region. Senior diplomat Rodion Miroshnik, who is tasked with investigating alleged Ukrainian war crimes, told RIA Novosti last week that Ukrainian forces were attempting to destroy evidence in occupied settlements.
Local residents in liberated areas reported “whole streets being burned, homes deliberately set on fire” by retreating Ukrainian troops, according to Miroshnik.
Last month, Russian investigators alleged that Ukrainian troops raped, tortured, and murdered Russian civilians in Russkoye Porechnoye, another recently reclaimed village. They published gruesome videos of bodies piled in cellars in some of the homes inside the settlement. Several captured Ukrainian servicemen admitted under interrogation that they committed the crimes, saying they were acting on the orders of their commanders.
Ukraine launched the incursion into Kursk Region last August, marking the largest attack on internationally recognized Russian territory since the escalation of hostilities between Moscow and Kiev in February 2022. The area under Ukrainian control, however, has been steadily shrinking, with the Russian military retaking the settlements of Nikolayevo-Daryino, Russkoe Porechnoye, Aleksandria, Leonidovo, and Kruglenkoye in January.
According to the latest data from the Russian Defense Ministry, Ukraine’s total losses since the launch of the incursion have reached 59,940 servicemen, 361 tanks, 262 infantry fighting vehicles, 211 armored personnel carriers, and hundreds of other pieces of equipment, including US-supplied HIMARS multiple rocket launchers.
Russian officials have repeatedly accused the Western media of ignoring or downplaying alleged atrocities committed by Ukrainian forces. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has also criticized the UN for ignoring Ukrainian attacks in Kursk Region.
