News

The Russia’s Investigative Committee has set up a special department for investigation of international crimes committed against civil population in Ukraine. The newly-formed department will be working until all Ukrainian militants and individuals committing crimes against civilians have been prosecuted for them. The Committee’s divisions in all regions in which refugees from Ukraine are arriving will be involved in the operations of the special department.

I remind that the Committee is already investigating several cases over crimes against Russian and Ukrainian citizens in Ukraine. Namely, there are cases against the members of UNA-UNSO (Ukrainian National Assembly – Ukrainian National Solidarity Organization) Mazur, Bobrovich, Yarosh, Korchinsky, Tagnibok brothers, Mamalyga and others, investigation into wounding a Russian journalist of Russia Today video news agency in Ukraine and others.

Under the investigation into illegal methods of warfare in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (article 356 of the RF Penal Code) there is a number of investigating operations underway to identify military men, members of Ukrainian National Guard and Right Sector, pilots, artillerymen, snipers, who gave and executed orders on air bombings, artillery shelling and annihilation of citizens and settlements in Southeastern Ukrainian. In addition, the Investigative Committee is going to receive from independent sources data from space satellites of different countries registering the nature and number of damages and locations of Ukrainian military units. This will help the investigators to make an unbiased picture of the situation in Southeastern Ukraine. The criminal case contains a lot of pictures and video files proving mass crimes against civilians. Some of the Russian citizens have already been questioned, including journalists released from captivity, and Ukrainian refugees seeking asylum in Russia as they had to flee their homes because of persecution by fascist-acting Ukrainian militarists. According to the Russian Migration Service the flow of refugees from Ukraine increases every daily. As of now Russia has accepted motions on refugee status and applications on asylum from almost 4 thousand people, over 500 of them are children. All of them are going to be questioned under this investigation and if there are grounds will be recognized victims. All the victims will get full and expert legal advice and explained their right to apply for the European Court of Human Rights and International Criminal Court.

As for the individuals involved in crimes against civilians, the Russia’s Investigative Committee intends to hold criminally responsible all the officials and military men without exception, personally involved in the punitive operations, as well as those ordering and financing murders of civilians. Therefore, the Committee is going to give legal evaluation to the actions of Arsen Avakov, Igor Kolomoysky and others.

The Investigative Committee urges everybody, including conscientious citizens of Ukraine, to help identifying immediate perpetrators of the killings of civilians in Southeastern Ukraine – military men: pilots, snipers, commanders of artillery units and others, who committed and keep on committing those crimes.

Those “Heroes of Ukraine” should have no doubts that their “feats of arms” will be valued deservedly, but not by their present-day masters giving wrongful orders, but by Russian and international judicial authorities.

Head of Media Relations                                                                                                     V.I. Markin