Lavrov: Russia's offer on collecting bodies in Konstantinovka shows who controls city

ADDIS ABABA, July 7. /TASS/. One only needs to look at Russia's offer to Ukraine to collect the bodies of its dead soldiers from Konstantinovka to understand who controls the city, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said.

"Regarding your question about the status of Konstantinovka, I believe the best answer is the offer extended by our military to Ukraine to come to the city and retrieve the bodies of its fallen servicemen," he said at a press conference.

"Ukraine rejected the offer, which many interpreted as showing that it needs neither dead nor living Ukrainians. Kiev will most likely classify the lost troops as missing," the Russian foreign minister added.

On July 3, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Army General Valery Gerasimov reported to President Vladimir Putin that the city of Konstantinovka in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) had been liberated by troops from Battlegroup South. On July 4, the Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement saying that Russia called on Ukraine to suspend shelling attacks on Konstantinovka between noon and 6:00 p.m. Moscow time (3:00 p.m. GMT) on July 6 so that Russia could hand over the bodies of killed Ukrainian soldiers. Kiev was expected to notify the Russian military command of its decision through intelligence channels by noon Moscow time on July 5.

On July 5, the Russian Defense Ministry said in another statement that Ukraine had rejected Moscow’s offer. The ministry noted that Kiev’s refusal to take back the bodies indicated that it viewed its own troops as expendable.