Along with investigating cases connected to the use of prohibited means and ways of warfare by representatives of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and National Guard, the RF Investigative Committee document crimes committed by them against citizens of the Russian Federation.

The 7^th department of the Investigative Committee’s Head Office continues investigating shelling of Russian territories in June-August 2014 that wounded several people in the town of Donetsk, Rostov Region and killed an old man.

It is known that the shelling was carried out from large caliber weapons – self-propelled artillery and rocket launchers.

In some cases actions of Ukrainian military servants more reminded of an attack of terrorists who would strike repeatedly on the sly on crowded places. For example, when a group of Investigative Committee’s investigators took off to examine the scene in Rostov Region, they were also shelled, with the close pattern of shots getting even closer which suggested that a spotter was at work at the moment. The victims were 1.5 kilometers away from the border on the Russian side.

Dozens of scene examinations have been carried out, 140 forensic inquiries have been run and more than 1,000 witnesses have been interviewed. The results of investigative operations together with the data of investigative and search operations conducted by the Russian Federal Security Service and Interior Ministry allowed the investigators to establish that commander of the 72^nd separate mechanized brigade of Ukrainian Armed Forces Andrei Grishchenko, who is now the commander of an operative squad Yug (South) of the Ukrainian Land Forces and commander of the 27^th rocket artillery regiment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Colonel Valery Ismailov were involved in the shelling.

The said military servants depending on the role of each one are charged in absentia with murder and attempted murder, an attempt on the life of law-enforcement agents under Articles 105 and 317 of the RF Penal Code.

Considering the evidence collected it is obvious for us that the actions of Ukrainian military servants could not have been random. There was only civilian infrastructure and no active military actions in the area. The number of volleys confirms that the shelling of the Russian territory was deliberate.

Despite the position of Ukraine who tend not to take any notice of some crimes committed against the Russian-speaking population, as well as Russian citizens, the Investigative Committee keeps on looking into the circumstances surrounding those crimes which involved representatives of Ukrainian military authorities. All of them sooner or later will answer for their actions: some of them for criminal orders, others for their thoughtless execution.

Acting Head Media Relations                                                                                                                      S.L. Petrenko