News

The Main Investigations Directorate of the Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal investigation in a crime under paragraphs “a”, “c”, “f”, “g” and “k” of part 2 of article 105, part 1 of article 356 of the RF Penal Code (murder and attempted murder, use of prohibited means and methods of warfare), following the shelling of the town of Gorlovka in Donetsk region.

According to investigators, on 26 may 2015, about 08:15 PM, unidentified people from among military of Ukrainian Armed Forces and National Guard following knowingly criminal orders of commanders and officials of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and National Guard shelled civilian facilities that were no military targets in the town of Gorlovka. They fired from heavy artillery weapons of at least 122 mm in caliber. Houses on Planernaya and Ozeryanovskaya streets and adjacent territories were caught in the area of shelling. As a result of the shelling three people were killed, including a 10-year-old girl. Two more citizens including a 2-year-old child, were wounded.

The investigators believe that the attack had the purpose of killing a national group of Russian-speaking people living in Donbass. They violated the Ceasefire Protocol and Memorandum to it and provisions of a number of international conventions including the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Russian laws in accordance with part 3 of article 12 of the RF Penal Code give the Russia’s Investigative Committee the right to prosecute foreign citizens who have committed a crime outside the Russian Federation in cases if the crime was directed against Russian citizens and in cases provided by the international agreement of the Russian Federation if the foreign citizens were not brought to justice in the foreign state.

Head of Media Relations                                                                                                                              V.I. Markin