Kremlin Offers to Help Yad Vashem Officials Willing to Visit Mass Graves Sites in Donbass

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov responded on Wednesday to the Yad Vashem centre's criticism of Russia's special operation in Ukraine, advising its members to visit the Donbass region and see the evidence of the atrocities by themselves.

Last week, the Jerusalem-based Holocaust remembrance centre issued a statement condemning the operation as well as the alleged "propagandist discourse" regarding "completely inaccurate comparisons with Nazi ideology and actions."

"We can talk with officials from LPR and DPR [the Lugansk and Donestk people's republics] and I am sure that after this is all over, they will gladly invite Yad Vashem officials and show them mass graves," Peskov told reporters, adding that Yad Vashem is a wonderful memorial centre, "with wonderful people working there."

Last Thursday, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, responding to calls for help from the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk. According to President Putin, the operation is aimed at "demilitarising and de-Nazifying" Ukraine. The decision to start the operation came following a breakdown of negotiations and continued Ukrainian artillery and mortar attacks on the Donbass republics.