Ukrainian soldier near Kharkov. File photoWASHINGTON, Apr 26 Western actions suggest that the conflict in Ukraine was deliberately provoked, and the country is being used as a «military battering ram against the Russian Federation,» Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov said. The diplomat's words were published on the embassy's Telegram channel. He noted that the situation in Ukraine and the image of Russia as a threat is used by the US ruling circles to «distract the attention of voters from their own failures in public administration» and internal problems in the United States. «All this suggests that the Ukrainian conflict was deliberately provoked by the West. The neighboring country is being used as a military ram against us,» Antonov said in a statement. 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 military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and , on March 25, completed the main tasks of the first stage — significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
