(Photo by Mikhail Svetlov/Getty Images)
Russia’s Defense Ministry has a new excuse for why it is faltering in the war in Ukraine: Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu claimed—without providing evidence—that Russian forces are being careful to avoid civilian casualties, which he says is slowing down their progress.
“Every effort is being done to prevent civilian casualties. It certainly slows down the advance,” Shoigu told a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Wednesday, according to TASS. “But we are doing it on purpose.”
Russian forces, however, have been hitting Ukrainian civilians from the beginning of the war, which Wednesday reached its six-month mark. In the early days of the war, Russia hit a maternity hospital, killing at least one mother and baby. Since, Russia has hit playgrounds, theaters clearly marked as safeguarding children, office and apartment buildings, a shopping mall.