Following the shelling of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and nationalists, the Main Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated another 2 criminal cases  on a possible crime under Part 1 of Article 356 of the Russian Criminal Code (ill-treatment of civilians, use of means and methods prohibited by an international treaty of the Russian Federation in an armed conflict).

According to the investigators, in the period from March 21 to March 23, 2022, servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other Ukrainian military formations carried out massive shelling of the cities of Donetsk, Gorlovka, Makeyevka, Yenakiyevo, Yasinovataya, Volnovakha and Mariupol, the village of Slavnoye of Maryinsky District and the settlement of Verkhnetoretskoye of the Donetsk People's Republic, as a result of which one civilian was killed and 28 civilians, including three minors born in 2006, 2008, and 2015, were injured. In addition, residential buildings, maintenance facilities, a monument, a sports complex, water pipes, a gas pipeline, and a factory building were damaged.

In the Lugansk People's Republic, as a result of shelling from March 22 to 23, 2022, in the cities of Pervomaisk, Kirovsk, Stakhanov, Irmino, the urban settlement of Donetsky and the settlement of Golubovskoye, a civilian was harmed, while residential buildings, a school, a fire and rescue station, maintenance facilities, and power lines were damaged.

The Investigative Committee of Russia continues to document the criminal actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and nationalists against the civilian population of the DPR and LPR, as well as to identify persons involved in these crimes.