In a criminal case involving the use of prohibited means and methods of warfare against the civilian population of Donbass, the Main Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia has identified another official of the Armed Forces of Ukraine involved in one of these crimes.
The perpetrator is Vladimir Kokorev, the commander of the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. It is established that he has been in this position since 2017 and, as a commander, has the right to issue orders binding on all servicemen of this military unit.
On September 8, 2019, while acting jointly with other persons serving in the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade, executing admittedly offensive orders of higher officials, Kokorev performed a targeted artillery attack with high-casualty heavy weapons on civilian infrastructure objects of no military target in settlement Spartak, Yasinovatsky District of the self-appointed Donetsk People’s Republic. One of the shells that hit a household yard failed to detonate. On the same day, two local women were doing household chores at their land plot. The shell was accidentally detonated, resulting in multiple shrapnel wounds and the death of one of the women.
With his actions, Kokorev violated the Minsk Protocol and the follow-up Memorandum; provisions of the Convention on Protection of Civilian Persons in Times of War and its Additional Protocol II; Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons, which May be Deemed to be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects, and its Additional Protocol II.
With reference to this fact, the Main Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia launched an investigation into the offence under Part 1 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code of Russia (cruel treatment of civilians, use in a military conflict of means and methods of warfare, banned by an international treaty of the Russian Federation).
Investigative actions and search operations are being conducted to identify other officials of the Armed Forces of Ukraine involved in this and other crimes against the civilian population of Donbass.
Official spokesperson for the Investigative Committee of Russia S. Petrenko
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