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The Russian Foreign Minister, Serguei Lavrov, has denied in an interview broadcast this Thursday by the 'BBC' that Russia has invaded Ukraine and has accused Western countries of spreading "fake news".

"We did not invade Ukraine. We declared a special military operation because we had absolutely no other way for the West to understand that

dragging Ukraine into NATO was criminal

," he said.

Since Russian troops launched the

war in Ukraine

on February 24, more than 4,000 civilians, 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers and 30,000 Russians have been killed, according to Kiev estimates.

In one of the few interviews he has given to international media, Lavrov has insisted on the official Moscow version that

a denazification campaign is being carried out

in Ukraine.

The journalist has cited a United Nations report on the Ukrainian population of Jahidne, where "360 residents, including 74 children and five people with disabilities, were forced by Russian armed forces to stay for 28 days in the basement of a school, without toilets or water" and "ten elderly people died".

"Is that fighting the Nazis?" the journalist asked.

"It's a great shame, but international diplomats, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (Michelle Bachelet), the UN Secretary General (António Guterres) and other UN representatives are under pressure from the West and, on many occasions, they are used to amplify fake news," Lavrov said.

The Russian Foreign Minister has also been questioned by the

two Britons who were fighting alongside the Ukrainian Army

and have been sentenced to death by pro-Russian separatists from the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic.

Amnesty International and other organizations have warned that, under the Geneva convention, prisoners of war cannot be prosecuted for having taken part in hostilities.

"I am not interested in the Western point of view at all. I am only interested in international legality. According to international law,

mercenaries are not recognized as combatants

," he stressed.

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