As the diplomatic ice between Moscow and Washington shows signs of thawing, Kiev appears to be reacting with gunfire, not goodwill — or at least that’s the picture painted by a senior Russian diplomat.
Rodion Miroshnik, Russia’s ambassador-at-large tasked with probing war crimes, claimed during a Monday briefing that Ukraine has stepped up attacks on civilian areas just as American and Russian officials sit down for crucial talks. Since President Trump kicked off his second term in January, Washington and Moscow have been working through multiple rounds of negotiations aimed at mending fences and cooling the long-smoldering conflict in Eastern Europe.
But according to Miroshnik, Kiev isn’t taking the prospect of peace lying down. Instead, he said, Ukraine has “significantly increased” its attacks on civilians since late March — a move he suggests is a deliberate attempt to derail the fragile diplomatic efforts.
“The start of negotiations between Moscow and Washington was met with a spike in Ukrainian attacks,” Miroshnik said, noting a roughly 25% jump in incidents compared to the first two months of the year.
And the numbers he cited are grim. From January 1 to March 31, Ukrainian forces reportedly launched over 22,000 shells and missiles into Russian civilian areas. The toll? At least 1,489 civilian casualties — including 292 killed and 1,197 wounded. Among the dead were five children, while another 63 were injured in the violence.
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The accusations don’t stop there. Miroshnik alleged that Kiev’s forces are being urged to deliberately target non-combatants to sow fear among Russian citizens. He backed up this claim by pointing to statements from Ukrainian officials and testimonies from captured soldiers in Russia’s Kursk Region.
One particularly chilling account from a Ukrainian soldier, according to Miroshnik, involved orders to “shoot all encountered civilians” — suggesting that Ukraine’s leadership is quietly promising troops a free pass for any atrocities, courtesy of their Western backers.
Meanwhile, in a possible nod to shifting tides, the Trump administration has pivoted from the old playbook of unwavering military support for Kiev. Moscow worries that, faced with changing dynamics in Washington, Kiev is ramping up provocations to drag America back into a more hardline stance.
While the world watches diplomatic efforts inch forward, the human cost of the conflict seems to be climbing — a stark reminder that peace on paper often comes at a painful price on the ground.
