Canadian Parliament Building. File photoWASHINGTON, Apr 23 Russian Ambassador to Canada Oleg Stepanov told RIA Novosti that he asked Ottawa to influence the United States in connection with information about a provocation planned by the West using weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine. «I sent personal messages addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Melanie Joly to influence the US administration and prevent this tragedy,» Stepanov said. «/>The special services of Ukraine are planning a provocation in Lysichansk, the Ministry of Defense said. In addition, the ambassador issued a statement that information about the impending provocation was transmitted to representatives of the diplomatic corps in Ottawa, the Canadian government and the media. According to the ambassador, the responsibility for the provocation will lie entirely with Washington. The Russian Defense Ministry previously reported that the United States was preparing provocations to accuse the Russian military of using chemical, biological or tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine. The US plan was developed and is a reaction to the successes of the RF Armed Forces, said Igor Kirillov, head of the troops for radiation, chemical and biological protection of the RF Armed Forces. At a briefing on Saturday, he noted that one of the scenarios of provocations that the West plans to use in Ukraine to accuse Russia could be the open use of weapons of mass destruction in the cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
