Moscow, May 21 (IANS/EFE): The Kremlin said on Wednesday that the Ukrainian government is in war with its own citizens, not with Russia, in response to Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko's earlier statement to BBC.

Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin does not agree with Poroshenko, given that "first of all, one has to understand that unfortunately, Kiev is waging war against its own citizens".

He added that Ukrainian citizens are the ones who get shot and the ones who die.

Poroshenko told BBC in an interview on Wednesday that his country is in the midst of a "real war" with Russia in eastern Ukraine.

According to BBC, Poroshenko stressed: "I can be absolutely clear with you, this is not a fight with Russian-backed separatists, and this is a real war with Russia. The fact that we captured Russian regular special forces soldiers (is) strong evidence of that."

The president added: "Russia is preparing an offensive, so I think we should be ready and I think that we do not give them any tiny chance for provocation."

Russia has repeatedly denied accusations launched by Kiev and Western leaders that it regularly sends troops to eastern Ukraine to help pro-Russian rebels.

According to Poroshenko, the conflict has caused nearly 7,000 civilian deaths and 1,800 in the ranks of government forces since its outbreak in April 2013.