Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov expressed this in an interview with BBC journalist Steve Rosenberg. Steve Rosenberg recalled the facts from the UN report on the events in the village of Yagidne, Chernihiv region: "The Russian military kept 360 people, including 74 children and 5 people with disabilities, in the basement of the school where they set up headquarters for 28 days. The basement was very crowded. For many days people could only sit; there was no place to lie. There was no toilet, water, or ventilation in the room. Ten older adults died."

After counting the number of victims and describing the conditions of detention of civilians, the journalist asked Lavrov whether such actions of the Russian military were a fight against Nazism. Lavrov accused the UN Secretary General and UN staff of spreading fake news about war crimes. "Unfortunately, you know that international officials, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights, including, unfortunately, the UN Secretary General, and many other United Nations officials, are vulnerable to Western pressure. And very often, they act as a mouthpiece for the fake news that the West spreads, "Lavrov replied. The village of Yahidne is located 140 kilometers north of Kyiv, near the Ukrainian-Belarusian border. The Russian army occupied it a few days after the start of a full-scale invasion.

The Russian military drove 360 ​​villagers to the basement of the school, where they were held for 28 days. At the time of the hostage-taking, the youngest of them was one and a half months old, and the oldest was 93 years old. Among the detainees were 74 children and 5 infants.

The hostages were in the basement around the clock. The Russian military used them as a human shield for their headquarters, which they organized in the school building. People were left in a confined space without ventilation, medication, and the ability to move. They slept sitting or standing. According to the hostages, the daily ration was only 200 grams of soup for two.