MELITOPOL, August 23. /TASS/. The intensity of Ukrainian strikes on civilian targets in Donbass and Novorossiya is directly linked to the subsidies provided by Western countries to the Kiev regime, Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador at Large on Kiev’s War Crimes Rodion Miroshnik told TASS.

"This is a direct result of the Western aid that was allocated to Kiev. As soon as the European Union confirmed the 90-billion-euro loan to Ukraine in April, since the beginning of May we have observed a sharp escalation here (in Donbass and Novorossiya - TASS), including in the Zaporozhye Region. We are seeing a colossal number of drones, for which, according to [European Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen, several tranches amounting to billions of dollars or euros were allocated," Miroshnik said after a working trip to the Zaporozhye Region.

He said that the drones purchased with Western funds were directed at grocery stores in Energodar, a hospital in Kamenka-Dneprovskaya, and residential buildings.