MOSCOW. March 24 (Interfax) - The Russian Foreign Ministry regrets that defenders of Kosovo's rights are turning a blind eye to the crimes committed by armed units controlled by Kyiv in Donbas.
"Alas, numerous crimes against the civilian population perpetrated by armed units controlled by the Ukrainian authorities, mass deaths and the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions absolutely do not concern those who used to worry about the observation of human rights in Kosovo," the ministry said in a commentary dedicated to an anniversary of the 1999 NATO aggression against the former Yugoslavia. The commentary was published on the ministry website.
The ministry noted that power in Ukraine was grabbed in an anti-constitutional way in February 2014, with the direct support from the United States and the European Union.
Recalling the 1999 events in the former Yugoslavia, the ministry said, "The bombings of Yugoslavia which lasted for 78 days, demonstrated the unilateral use of force by NATO and the alliance's neglect of the fundamental principle of peaceful settlement of disputes and brought pain and suffering to the people of the country."
NATO explained their actions by the wish to protect Kosovo Albanians from "persecution" by the Serbian authorities and to prevent "a humanitarian catastrophe."
"In fact, the operation aimed at the disruption of the political and economic potential of Yugoslavia, which was holding an independent policy in the region, and the consequent breakup of the country. Air strikes were planned irrespective of outcomes of the international negotiations on the Kosovo issue. Importantly, most refugees fled Kosovo after the bombings had begun," the commentary said.
The bombings of Yugoslavia were followed by an invasion of Iraq by the United States and their NATO allies under far-fetched pretexts and without UN authorization in 2003 and the cynical abuse of UN Security Council resolutions 1970 and 1973 on Libya in 2011 when the alliance actually sided with a party of the conflict.
"Countries that were involved or supported the bombings of Yugoslavia in 1999 should understand that amid the current global turbulence it is extremely important to learn correct lessons from the past and abandon the practice of "double standards" and unilateral or selective interpretation of international legal norms," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.