Former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko wants Ukrainians to take up arms against Russians as part of a wider war that would annihilate Russia, according to a leaked telephone conversation quoted in a report by Russia Today on Monday.

The leaked phone call with Nestor Shufrych, former deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, took place on March 18, hours after a treaty approving Crimea's accession to the Russian Federation was signed in the Kremlin. An audio recording of the conversation was later leaked online.

"It's about time we grabbed our guns and killed those damn Russians together with their leader," Tymoshenko said.

"I hope I will be able to get all my connections involved. And I will use all my means to make the entire world rise up, so that there wouldn't be even a scorched field left in Russia," she added.

Tymoshenko confirmed the authenticity of the conversation via Twitter. However, she said that a passage in which she referred to the nuclear slaughter of the 8 million Russians who remain on Ukrainian territory had been edited, changing her intended meaning.

She did not clarify who she wanted to target with nuclear weapons.

Appearing on a live talk show, Tymoshenko said on Friday that Russian president Vladimir Putin had "lost Ukraine for good" with his move to take over Crimea, according to AFP.

Reuters-AFP

(China Daily 03/26/2014 page12)