"War crimes are committed every day": how the use of Bayraktar drones in Donbass is justified in Kiev

The use of Turkish Bayraktar unmanned aerial vehicles during the conflict in Donbass does not violate the terms of the Minsk agreements.

This point of view was expressed by the new head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Aleksey Reznikov.

“I would like to draw your attention to the text of the Minsk agreements, which clearly spells out a ban on the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.

But there is one important word that even our German friends forget about - "foreign".

That is, it is forbidden for Russians to use drones over Ukrainian soil.

And we are on our own land, and this is a Ukrainian unmanned vehicle, ”the minister said on the air of the talk show“ Freedom of speech by Savik Shuster ”.

In addition, according to Reznikov, the military used Bayraktar "for self-defense purposes."

Meanwhile, there are no exceptions in the text of the agreements regarding the use of UAVs in the territory of Donbass.

The condition for the use of foreign drones in this territory is clearly spelled out in the seventh paragraph of the memorandum signed in September 2014.

"The ban ... of flights of military aircraft and foreign unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), with the exception of UAVs used by the OSCE monitoring (observation) mission, along the entire contact line of the parties in the zone of cessation of the use of weapons at a width of at least 30 km," the document says.

Despite this, the General Staff of Ukraine announced that they intend to continue using Bayraktar drones in Donbass.

“We are using Bayraktar at this moment on threats.

If there are threats to our military and it is necessary to extinguish these threats in order to save the lives of our military, Bayraktar will be used.

These will be situational points of use, ”Chief of the General Staff Sergei Shaptala said at the same talk show.

• Ukrainian military on the contact line in Donbass

• Reuters

Earlier on the air of the 1 + 1 TV channel, Shaptala announced plans to increase the number of Turkish UAVs in the Ukrainian army. 

Attempts to escalate

We will remind, on October 26, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) reported on the first combat use of the Bayraktar drone in Donbass.

With his help, a controlled bomb was struck at one of the firing points of the militia.

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the purpose of the use of the UAV was "forcing the enemy to ceasefire."

However, Russia stressed that such actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine only exacerbate the situation in the south-east of Ukraine.

“We see that as soon as such weapons fall into the hands of the military, they can potentially be used in this region of Ukraine, and this only leads to destabilization,” said Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation.

He also expressed regret that Turkey, by supplying drones to Kiev, thereby contributes to the destabilization of the situation in the region.

Ankara expressed dissatisfaction with the criticism of the supply of weapons to other states.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu urged not to associate drones acquired by Ukraine with his country.

“As soon as they bought weapons from us, it ceased to be Turkish.

Although it was produced in Turkey, now it belongs to Ukraine ... Ukraine should also stop using the name of our country ... There is nothing to blame Turkey for in this situation, "he said on the air of the Russia-1 TV channel in an interview with the program. Moscow.

Kremlin.

Putin ".

In turn, Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, called the use of attack drones in Donbass by Kiev as a dangerous game, stressing that it "can have consequences that the Ukrainian side does not even imagine."

Later, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with the Russia-24 TV channel, noted that Ukraine is trying to create a provocative situation in order to "drag Russia into some kind of forceful actions."

• Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov

• Reuters

• © Russian Foreign Ministry

The excitement of the curators

Concern about the escalation of hostilities in the southeast of Ukraine and the use of Bayraktar drones were also expressed in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Federal Republic of Germany, calling on the parties to de-escalate.

"We are concerned about the intensification of hostilities in eastern Ukraine and reports of the Ukrainian General Staff that the Ukrainian armed forces used a Bayraktar drone in response to shelling and the murder of a soldier ... according to the Minsk agreements (this is -

), only the OSCE SMM can do

it.

" - emphasized during the briefing the representative of the German Foreign Ministry Andrea Sasse.

However, the Ukrainian side criticized the position of Berlin, stating that the country has a "legal right to self-defense."

"(Ukraine calls on. -

) the German government to redouble its efforts as a mediator - according to the agreements, to convene a meeting in Berlin in the Normandy format and put Moscow in its place, instead of expressing concern about the dramatic situation in the occupied regions," the Ukrainian ambassador said in Germany's Andrei Melnik in a commentary to Bild.

Despite Kiev's discontent, the French Foreign Ministry issued almost a similar warning, stating that the parties should show restraint and not continue to aggravate the conflict.

The ministry also noted that Paris, within the framework of the Normandy format, will continue to make efforts to fully implement the Minsk agreements.

• French Foreign Ministry

• © AFP 2021 / Ludovic Marin

However, the head of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Aleksey Reznikov said that "the Minsk agreements are not a springboard for peace."

From his point of view, the agreements are just a set of measures to reduce escalation in the region.

At the same time, according to Reznikov, first of all, they should be fulfilled by Moscow.

In addition, the minister stressed, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky does not intend to negotiate with representatives of the self-proclaimed republics.

"He will only talk with the president of another country (Vladimir Putin. -

) with the help of presidents and chancellors of friendly countries," the head of the Defense Ministry added.

Free interpretation of agreements

Experts note that this is not the first time that Kiev interprets the Minsk agreements in its own way, since it does not want to implement them in the form in which they were signed by the Ukrainian side, including.

“Today in Kiev they do not know how to justify themselves.

From time to time they are guilty of either Russia or Poroshenko, who signed the agreements.

And when you don't want to fulfill an agreement, there are always excuses.

Despite the fact that usually these excuses look very weak and, as a rule, are an obvious violation of Minsk, as in the case of a drone, "Vadim Kozyulin, head of the Center for Global Studies and International Relations of the IAMP of the Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy, explained in a conversation with RT.

According to the expert, now the authorities in Kiev are busy supporting their falling rating among the population, so they resort to various actions in Donbass to “raise the patriotic spirit”.

“We see that against the background of the use of Bayraktar in the Ukrainian media, a campaign of pseudo-patriotic speeches has erupted.

It seemed to them that this was such a factor that could change the entire military situation and bring a quick victory.

And Zelensky's team needs such sentiments, as political competitors are already on their heels, ”said Kozyulin.

In turn, Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics of the Moscow State Pedagogical University, believes that the statements made by Reznikov in the current situation are not only dangerous, but also criminal.

“In fact, we are talking about the fact that Ukraine not only sabotages the application of the norms of the Minsk agreements, but also commits war crimes on a daily basis.

And Reznikov is a person who denies the obvious, ”the analyst said in a comment to RT.

Shapovalov recalled that every time the negotiations on the implementation of the agreements come to a standstill, Kiev goes to such resonant measures.

Thus, the Ukrainian authorities are trying to provoke Russia and put pressure on it.

At the same time, the expert noted that Ukraine is absolutely not afraid of criticism from other participants in the Minsk format, since they have always indulged her.

“Let's remember that the current Ukrainian government, which emerged as a result of the 2014 coup d'état, was blessed for their actions by the European leaders.

Therefore, now the same France and Germany consistently turn a blind eye to all the crimes of the Kiev regime, "the interlocutor of RT emphasized.

• DPR representatives launch a white signal rocket in the village of Petrovskoe in the Donetsk region

• © RIA Novosti / Sergey Averin

It is another matter, he added, that this policy does not meet the real interests of European states and peoples.

However, according to Vadim Kozyulin, the patience of Ukraine's European partners is not unlimited, and they are not too interested in having a country with a smoldering conflict at their side.

“Ukraine has tired the European audience with its constant complaints and grievances, including against the EU.

Yes, in words, the EU still supports Kiev, but funding is not so abundant, and Europe is getting less and less enthusiasm, ”the expert concluded.