Russia Accuses Kosovo of Promoting Ethnic Cleansing of Serbs

On Monday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova denounced an incident in Kosovo, in which five people lost their lives, as a direct consequence of the policies pursued by Prime Minister Albin Kurti aimed at ethnically cleansing the Serbs from this region.

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"Without a doubt, yesterday's bloodshed is a direct result of the course taken by the so-called Prime Minister Albin Kurti to stoke the conflict and purge the territory of Serbs," she stated.

The attempts by the head of the Kosovo government to "provoke Western countries to increase pressure on Serbia to force Belgrade to recognize Kosovo's 'independence' are a risky game that comes at a high cost and dangerously brings the entire Balkan region closer to a dangerous precipice," Zakharova pointed out.

"The direct threat of a resurgence of ethnic cleansing, previously practiced by Albanian Kosovar radicals, becomes evident."

On Sunday, five individuals perished as a result of a clash between a group of Serbs and the Kosovo police near the Serbian village of Banjska, in the northern region of Kosovo, predominantly inhabited by Serbs.

A Kosovo police officer lost his life, and another was wounded in an ambush, following which the police confronted around thirty attackers, supposedly Serb-Kosovars or Serbs, who had taken refuge in the courtyard of the Banjska Orthodox monastery. In this confrontation, four more individuals lost their lives.

The violent clashes on Sunday have once again strained the already challenging relations between Pristina and Belgrade.

The Kosovar Prime Minister accused the Serbian government of supporting the attackers, whom he labeled as "terrorists."

These accusations were promptly rejected by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, who in turn held Pristina responsible for the "oppression and mistreatment" of the Serbian minority in Kosovo.

On Monday, Vucic lodged a complaint with the Russian Ambassador in Belgrade, alleging that "a portion of the international community" supports a supposed "brutal ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov regarded the current situation as "potentially dangerous," although he acknowledged that Moscow did not possess sufficient information to comment on the events.

Similar to Belgrade, Moscow, a long-standing ally of Serbia, does not recognize Kosovo's independence since 2008.