# Russia shifts stance on hospital bombing that sparked world outrage Author: Pal Sinha, Barnali Author URL: https://financedigest.com/author/pal-sinha-barnali Published: 2022-03-10 Category: NEWS Category URL: https://financedigest.com/category/news Meta Title: Russia shifts stance over Ukrainian hospital bombing Meta Description: Discover how Russia's response to the bombing of a Ukrainian hospital alternates between denials and promises to investigate, amid accusations of URL: https://financedigest.com/russia-shifts-stance-on-hospital-bombing-that-sparked-world-outragehtml ![undefined](https://prod.superblogcdn.com/site_cuid_cm5qst7v3003gwirgwqtxn8i8/images/2022-03-10t133550z1lynxnpei290ssrtroptp4ukraine-crisis-mariupol-1736815975180-compressed.jpg) By Mark Trevelyan LONDON (Reuters) – Russia shifted its stance over the bombing of a Ukrainian hospital in the city of Mariupol, with a mix of statements on Thursday that veered between aggressive denials and a call by the Kremlin to establish clear facts. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said three people including a child had been killed in the bombing on Wednesday, and rejected Russian assertions there had been no patients there. Like always, they lie confidently,” said Zelenskiy, who has accused Moscow of waging genocide in the war it [launched two weeks](https://www.financedigest.com/higher-education-institutions-launch-wonderwomen-initiative-to-celebrate-international-womens-week.html "Higher education institutions launch #WonderWomen initiative to celebrate International Women’s Week") ago. In the face of worldwide condemnation there were [rare signs of inconsistency in the response from Russian](https://www.financedigest.com/indias-reliance-makes-rare-buy-of-russian-naphtha-ups-fuel-oil-imports.html "India’s Reliance makes rare buy of Russian naphtha, ups fuel oil imports") officials, who since the start of Moscow’s invasion on Feb. 24 have stuck tightly to the same narrative for what [Russia calls its special military operation](https://www.financedigest.com/kfc-franchisees-in-russia-ask-govt-to-halt-sale-of-stores-to-local-operator-ria.html "KFC franchisees in Russia ask govt to halt sale of stores to local operator – RIA") in Ukraine. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, asked for comment in the immediate aftermath, told Reuters on Wednesday: “Russian forces do not fire on civilian targets.” On Thursday he said the Kremlin would look into the incident. We will definitely ask our military, because you and I don’t have clear [information about what happened there,” Peskov told reporters](https://www.financedigest.com/kings-secure-technologies-adopts-agile-flexible-cloud-reporting-access-granular-real-time-financial-information.html "Kings Secure Technologies Adopts Agile and Flexible Cloud Reporting for Access to ‘Granular Real-time Financial Information’"). “And the military are very likely to provide some information.” ‘INFORMATION TERRORISM’ Other Russian officials took a more aggressive line, rejecting the hospital bombing as fake news. “This is information terrorism,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said. The Defence Ministry later denied having bombed the hospital, accusing Ukraine of staging the incident. It said [Russian forces at the time had been respecting](https://www.financedigest.com/some-russians-mourn-queen-elizabeth-with-flowers-as-kremlin-pays-respects.html "Some Russians mourn Queen Elizabeth with flowers as Kremlin pays respects") an agreement to hold fire to allow the evacuation of civilians. “Russian aviation carried out absolutely no strikes on ground targets in the area,” spokesman Igor Konashenkov said. The alleged air [strike was completely a staged](https://www.financedigest.com/british-nurses-to-stage-first-strikes-on-dec-15-20.html "British nurses to stage first strikes on Dec. 15, 20") provocation… that can deceive the Western public but not an expert.” Foreign [Minister Sergei Lavrov attacked what he called “pathetic shouting about so-called atrocities by the Russian](https://www.financedigest.com/permitted-share-of-chinas-yuan-in-russian-wealth-fund-doubled-to-60-finance-minister.html "Permitted share of China’s yuan in Russian wealth fund doubled to 60% -Finance Minister") armed forces. He told reporters after [meeting Ukraine’s foreign minister in Turkey that the hospital building](https://www.financedigest.com/meet-tilak-joshi-the-fintech-ceo-building-modern-solutions-for-the-gig-economy.html "Meet Tilak Joshi: the fintech CEO building modern solutions for the gig economy") had for days been under the control of ultra-radical Ukrainian forces who had emptied out the doctors and patients – the version rejected by Zelenskiy as a lie. Moscow [says it is conducting a special military operation to demilitarise and “denazify” Ukraine](https://www.financedigest.com/south-korea-has-not-supplied-lethal-weapons-to-ukraine-president-says.html "South Korea has not supplied lethal weapons to Ukraine, president says"). Kyiv and the West reject these as [false pretexts for an invasion of a democratic country of 44 million](https://www.financedigest.com/philips-subsidiary-to-pay-over-24-million-for-alleged-false-claims-for-medical-equipment.html "Philips subsidiary to pay over million for alleged false claims for medical equipment") people. On Wednesday, the United States denied renewed Russian accusations that Washington was [operating biowarfare labs in Ukraine](https://www.financedigest.com/russia-promises-to-scale-down-operations-in-northern-ukraine.html "Russia promises to scale down operations in northern Ukraine"), calling the claims “laughable. (Additional reporting by Olzhas Auyezov and Andrei Khalip; Editing by Gareth Jones) --- This blog is powered by Superblog. Visit https://superblog.ai to know more. ---