Russia condemns Hezbollah leader’s killing, warns of Lebanon conflict risk
A view shows banners and constructions for a stage ahead of an expected event, dedicated to the results of referendums on the joining of four Ukrainian self-proclaimed regions to Russia, near St. Basil's Cathedral in Red Square in central Moscow, Russia September 28, 2022. (Reuters Photo)
The Kremlin on Monday condemned the killing of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an Israeli air attack last week and said it assessed the risk of a major Middle East war as “extremely high”.
“The Russian side condemns such actions, we believe that they have led to a significant destabilisation of the situation in the region,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
Risks of Gaza-like catastrophe: Kremlin
“The main thing is that such indiscriminate bombing of residential areas in Lebanon leads to a huge number of human casualties, which will inevitably bring on a humanitarian catastrophe like the one we are seeing in Gaza,” he added, expressing Moscow’s “deepest concern”.
Israel’s intensifying assault on Hezbollah has deepened international concerns about the risk of a wider Middle East war involving Iran, which backs Hezbollah and Hamas.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the killing of Nasrallah at the weekend as a political assassination and the Russian foreign ministry in a statement called on Israel to immediately stop hostilities in Lebanon.
