Russia Slams U.N. Report as 'Biased' and 'Hypocritical'

Russia criticized Tuesday a U.N. report on the human rights situation in eastern Ukraine as "biased" and "hypocritical".

"Our main conclusion is that the report is biased and even hypocritical," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement.

"Its key message is that the Ukrainian government can continue to legitimately use force to reestablish order in the east of the country," he said.

The U.N. released Monday its fourth report on the human rights situation in eastern Ukraine where pro-Russian rebels and government forces have been fighting since mid-April.

The report, which said its latest figures showed that more than 1,100 people had been killed and 100,000 had fled the conflict, criticized both the rebels and government forces for using heavy weapons in populated areas.

Russia has been accused by the West of supplying heavy weapons and other aid to the rebels, a charge Moscow has denied.

"The report from the U.N. observer mission is missing the most important thing: a call for the immediate halt of the military operations that the Ukrainian government is conducting against its own people," said Lukashevich.

"Without that, talking about human rights in Ukraine makes no sense," he added.

Lukashevich said the U.N. monitoring mission in Ukraine should work towards obtaining a ceasefire and the opening of a dialogue instead of "direct or indirect justification of the violence being perpetrated by the Ukrainian authorities."