OSCE official accuses Russia of war crimes in Kherson; terms it 'laboratory of horrors'

The US ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Michael Carpenter, during an address to the OSCE council in Vienna, termed the atrocities of Russian forces in the Kherson region as the "Kremlin’s laboratory of horrors". Underscoring the brutal war crimes in Ukraine, he said everyone in the Council is aware of the atrocities committed by members of Russia’s forces in Bucha, Borodyanka, Mariupol and Kherson. He said these regions will go down in history as the sites of unspeakable war crimes. "Everyone in this Council understands that the Russian delegation lies in such a brazen way that their claims would be laughable if they were not so vile," Carpenter said on Thursday.

Furthermore, he slammed the Russian ambassador and added he must take the council for a fool "if he expects anyone to buy his cheap propaganda that Ukrainians are somehow bombing their own cities". He dismissed the Russian theory that states Ukrainian forces have been destroying their own schools and hospitals and raping their own population. He alleged that the Kherson remains under Russian President Vladimir Putin's control and added his forces have been working to replace Kherson’s democratic government, free press, and civil society with a Kremlin-style police state.

Carpenter alleges Russia of cutting internet connectivity in Kherson

Carpenter alleged that the Kremlin wants to place the puppet regime in order to humiliate and brutalizes the local population who are critical or vocal against Russian leadership. Furthermore, the US ambassador to OSCE claimed that Moscow is deliberately seeking to sabotage internet access in Russian-controlled territories to deny people the ability to acquire reliable information, conduct financial transactions, communicate openly, and access Ukrainian government services. "Let there be no doubt: Kherson will eventually be liberated, and its people will rebuild their vibrant democratic society," he expressed during the council meeting.

Notably, Ukraine’s Armed Forces, on Friday, claimed that the Russian forces fighting in the Kharkiv region refused to battle against Zelenskyy's forces. It said that all members of Moscow's motorized infantry unit of the First Army Corps refused to fight after suffering heavy losses in Kharkiv. Further, it informed the Russian aggressor to continue to fire in the Donetsk Oblast. It also attacked civilian areas with missile and air strikes, resulting in massive destruction of residential buildings, added UAF.

Image: AP/@usosce/Twitter