Vladimir Putin' s lapdog has insisted no war crimes have been committed in Ukraine as Russia was kicked out of the UN Human Rights Council.
Dmitry Peskov, Putin's press secretary, branded the claims the Russian military was shelling civilians as "fake" and went as far as to say the atrocities in Bucha were a "well-staged simulation".
Speaking to Mark Austin on Sky News this afternoon from his office in the Kremlin, Peskov reasserted his leader's position that the Russian invasion was a "special military operation", claiming his country was under a security threat.
Mark challenged Peskov on if what was happening in Ukraine was really going to plan if they were withdrawing.
Peskov said the troops are really withdrawing as "an act of goodwill between Russia and Ukraine" to "lift regional tension" and "show Russia is ready to create comfortable conditions".
When pressed by Mark on why Russian troops continue to shell cities such as Mariupol including the bombing of the hospital, Peskov sensationally said it was a fake.
Peskov said: "Mariupol will be liberated from nationalists battalions and we hope it happens sooner than later."
He continued: "The hospital was a fake and we have very serious reason to believe it was a fake."
Mark continued to challenge Peskov on civilian casualties and asked about the horrifying reports from Bucha.
Peskov chillingly said: "We insist that Bucha is a well-staged simulation..those people you see..they are not victims of Russia."
When faced with graphic images of the massacre in Bucha, Peskov double-down saying they were fake and staged after the Russian military had withdrawn, despite Mark insisting they have been verified and geolocated.
He said: "I will tell you it's fake.
Peskov added: "We know pretty well the company that has provided these satellite images they work with the pentagon...its interesting to know that they don't have exact dates on their images so it's impossible to locate an exact date of those satellite pictures...we insist they were made after Russian troops had withdrawn."
Mark then showed a video of a civilian woman who was killed by Russian tanks, and Peskov continued to deny the allegations even as he was faced with images of Russian tanks.
Mark showed the tanks have a 'V' marking on them, which is seen on Russian tanks.
Peskov said: "Those are not the tanks that were shooting. What you are showing right now is not the right tank...you have to be careful what you are showing."
When pressed on branding these claims as fakes, Peskov said: "Well of course it can be a play of fakes, you can attach any date to an image that was made through satellite we have to doubt something..you cannot be without an investigation...you can't blame everything on Russia."
Peskov shockingly tried to blame the atrocities in Mariupol and Bucha by Ukrainian nationalists.
He said: "We have an even bigger amount of eyewitnesses of people who took part in these various situations in Mariupol and Bucha that were telling us the terrible stories of that nationalist battalion people...torturing people and not letting them leave the town."
However, he contradicted himself when saying he would be open to an independent investigation but said Russia has a "bitter history" with international investigations.
Russia withdrew its membership from the International Criminal Court in 2016.
Earlier today , Russia was suspended from the UN Human Rights Council after a vote of the UN General Council was called following the horrific scenes of death reported in Bucha.
Russia was kicked out after a vote this afternoon was approved with 93 votes in favour, 24 against and 59 abstentions from member countries.
Among other hard denials made by Peskov, came more shocking allegations.
He claimed Ukrainian nationalists are not allowing civilians to leave and are using them as human shields against the Russian military.
Peskov said: "It's about Ukrainian nationalist personnel trying to use civil people as a shield so they are covering themselves with civil people and not letting them leave...at the start we were never shelling civil objects we were attacking military infrastructure."
It comes as NATO's Secretary-General warned that Russian forces are getting ready for a “major offensive” in eastern Ukraine - and NATO needs to be “prepared for the long haul".
Jens Stoltenberg said talks would focus on what extra military equipment members can provide to Kyiv as Ukrainian troops battle to repel Kremlin invaders.
The war had reached a “critical phase”, said former Norwegian PM Mr Stoltenberg, as he predicted a battle for Donbas in eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have battled Ukrainian soldiers since 2014.
