ROME, July 27. /TASS/. EU leaders are betraying their own values by turning a blind eye to the Kiev regime’s crimes in Donbass, and will be held responsible for Europe’s moral degradation, Russian Ambassador to Italy Alexey Paramonov said on the occasion of Day of Remembrance for Child Victims of the War in Donbass.

"From 2014 to this day, not a single leader of so-called enlightened Europe has stood up to defend the civilians and children of Donbass. We still see and hear EU leaders condoning any, even the most barbaric, crimes committed by Kiev’s military against civilians and children in this long-suffering region," the diplomat said in a video message posted on the embassy’s Telegram channel.

"The ‘civilized’ Europe still pretends not to hear the statements by Ukrainian hierarchs who call Donbass residents ‘non-humans’ and say that Russians have no right to exist. The European Union leaders abandon the foundations of its own civilization, exposing to the world their greed, double-dealing, cynicism, their lack of values and their moral degeneration. Naturally, they will have to bear responsibility for this politics, we are all certain," he stated.

The remembrance date was established in 2022 by the people of Donbass themselves and was subsequently included in the Russian Federation’s official calendar. This date commemorates the tragic events that occurred on July 27, 2014, when the Ukrainian armed forces launched a massive attack on the center of Gorlovka, killing 22 civilians, including four minors.

According to official data, 369 children have been killed in Donbass as a result of Kiev’s terrorist attacks over these years. More than 100 more children have been injured as a result of shelling by Ukrainian forces in the areas bordering the Russian Federation. In total, more than 4,000 children have been injured, maimed, and many left permanently disabled.

Prayer service

On Sunday, a prayer service was held at the Russian Orthodox Church of Saint Catherine the Great Martyr in Rome with the participation, among others, of Ennio Bordato, founder of the Italian charity association "Help us Save the Children." Bordato has been providing aid to the Donbass population over the past few years.

"This is huge, immeasurable shame, however, the fact that the West would not talk about peace, continuing to stuff the Kiev regime with weapons, is an even greater shame. The Ukrainian army uses these weapons to strike the children of Donbass and Russia. Such actions are counter to peace," Bordato said. He noted that he would want to draw the attention of citizens of his hometown of Rovereto, which has been awarded the title of ‘City of Peace’, by placing a large mobile banner for a week with an image of the girl who was the first victim of the war, Polina Sladskaya (01.01.2008 - 08.06.2014).

According to him, this initiative has received a keen response. "Nobody was against, people saw the picture, and even the local press wrote about it," Bordato told TASS.