MOSCOW, February 4 (RAPSI) – Moscow's Savyolovsky District Court has dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by the Moscow branch of the Russian Red Cross against 18 Ukrainian and US media outlets seeking 170 million rubles (about $2.5 million) in damages, RAPSI learnt in the court on Wednesday.

The court refused to consider the lawsuit because the case was outside its jurisdiction. The claim was given back to the plaintiff.

Chief of the Moscow branch of the Russian Red Cross panel Igor Trunov slammed the US and Ukrainian mass media coverage of the situation in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Notably, the information about humanitarian aid provided by the Red Cross to residents of Lugansk was distorted, according to Trunov.

"An information war is waged against Russia, and we turned to a court," Trunov said.

In mid-January, Russian Foreign Ministry issued a scalding reaction against Ukrainian media quoting the Moscow Red Cross head Trunov, who allegedly referred to the humanitarian convoys sent to war-torn Ukrainian Donetsk region as “invasive”, and the help consisting of “dual-use goods”, implying that they could be used by combatants.

The Moscow Red Cross head added that he filed a motion with the Investigative Committee to initiate criminal proceedings on the grounds of enticing extremism, libel (a criminal offense under Russian law), and insulting a government official.

In addition, motions were filed to the Prosecutor General’s Office and communications regulator, to block access to the websites of publications mentioned in the lawsuit. The full list of the accused US and Ukrainian media outlets was not yet disclosed.