Maria Zakharova, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, has said that the Australian authorities have been trying in every possible manner to hide the "war crimes" of their soldiers in Afghanistan.

According to Zakharova, Australia criticises other countries regardless of their own problems.

Zakharova quoted a Russian diplomat as saying that new data on "Australian war crimes" showed that "this is an institutional and deeply rooted issue".

These statements have been made while Ben Roberts Smith, Australia’s most decorated war veteran, has been accused of "murdering four Afghans". Australian Civil Court accused the veteran of "murder" in Afghanistan.

Australian Federal Court Judge Anthony Besanko ruled that much of the information released in 2018 about the war crimes of Smith, a former Australian Special Air Force soldier, was true.