Pro-Russian anonymous Telegram channels are spreading a statement by Russian President’s press secretary Dmytro Pieskov that the Russian military allegedly “treats Ukrainian civilians with caution” and strikes exclusively at military targets. However, such statements contradict numerous facts and international reports that confirm the mass casualties among civilians as a result of Russian attacks.

This is reported by StopFake. Its experts claim that, according to the UN Monitoring Mission, more than 12,000 civilians have been killed since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, and more than 26,000 have been injured. For example, in Kryvyi Rih, a ballistic missile hit a residential building, destroying an entire family with three children. During another attack, a children’s hospital and residential areas were damaged.

Amnesty International calls such actions war crimes, as shelling of civilian objects violates international humanitarian law. In addition to civilian casualties, strikes on energy infrastructure are causing a humanitarian catastrophe, worsening the living conditions of millions of Ukrainians.

The purpose of spreading such disinformation is to create the illusion of the “morality” of the Russian army, to try to justify war crimes before the international community, and to manipulate the perceptions of citizens of Russia and other countries. This disinformation is aimed at minimizing the consequences of attacks on the civilian population of Ukraine, shifting the blame for the victims to the other side, and discrediting objective reports by international organizations.