MOSCOW, March 20 (RAPSI, Diana Gutsul) - The Moscow City Court has ruled that the Savyolovsky District Court hear a defamation lawsuit filed by the Moscow office of the Red Cross against 18 Ukrainian and US media outlets, seeking 170 million rubles (about $2.8 million) in damages for lying about the events in Donbas, lawyer Igor Trunov told RAPSI on Friday.

Earlier, the claim from the Red Cross was denied “as the issue cannot be considered by a district court,” according to the Red Cross press service.

Igor Trunov, lawyer and head of the Red Cross’ Moscow office, previously informed RAPSI that the lawsuit had been filed due to distorted reports in the US and Ukrainian media.

Trunov claims that the US and Ukrainian media unlawfully distorted reports from Donbas and basically got involved in an information war against Russia. Therefore, he was compelled to go to court.

In mid-January, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a scalding reaction against Ukrainian media quoting Moscow Red Cross head Trunov, who allegedly referred to the humanitarian convoys sent to the war-torn Donetsk region as “invasive,” and the shipped items consisting of “dual-use goods,” implying that they could be used by the 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 with 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 has not yet been disclosed.