Lavrov justifies the attacks on energy facilities because they are support bases for the Ukrainian armed forces

MOSCOW, Dec. 1 (DPA/EP) -

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday defended airstrikes on energy facilities in Ukraine as they serve as a support base for Ukrainian forces and "nationalist battalions".

"These infrastructures support the combat capacity of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the nationalist battalions," Lavrov justified during a televised press conference in which he assured that these attacks actually seek to minimize the number of civilian victims.

At the same time, Lavrov has criticized "hysteria" and the hypocrisy of Western governments and media, since these attacks on these types of facilities have been perpetrated by both NATO and the United States in previous conflicts.

"Compare the hysteria unleashed now in the Western media with what happened when the United States bombed Iraq," Lavrov compared, citing the NATO bombing of a Belgrade television center during the Balkans war as an example.

"In the former Yugoslavia, NATO also bombed a Belgrade television center on the grounds that it served the enemy's war propaganda," recalled the head of Russian diplomacy.

Just over nine months after the start of the Russian invasion, the Kremlin forces have intensified their air attacks on this type of civilian facilities and infrastructure in recent weeks, also in the main population centers.

These recent bombardments have left millions of people without electricity and water supply, at a time when the population prepares for winter. As a consequence of these attacks, dozens of civilians have died.