Events

A meeting of the Headquarters for the Coordination of Search and Archive Work took place under the leadership of Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin. It summarized the results of its work in 2021 and outlined the upcoming tasks for the current year. The event was attended by First Deputy Chairman of the IC of Russia Eduard Valeryevich Kaburneev, heads and employees of divisions of the Central Office of the IC of Russia and of regional investigative authorities, as well as educational organizations of the Investigative Committee; Deputy Director of the Institute of State and Law of the RAS, Senator of the International Association of Prosecutors Alexander Grigoryevich Zvyagintsev; People's Artist of the RSFSR, member of the Public Council of the Investigative Committee of Russia Lev Valeryanovich Leshchenko; Head of the Department of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for Perpetuating the Memory of People Who Died Defending the Fatherland and Countering Falsification of History Valery Bronislavovich Kudinsky; representative of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia in the investigative authorities of the Russian Federation Ilya Illarionovich Varov; Deputy Head of the Department of Organizational and Administrative Work of the Office of the President of the Russian Federation for Public Projects Elena Petrovna Malysheva, as well as representatives of the social volunteer movement.

Paying tribute to the valor of the employees of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation who died in the line of duty, as well as to young heroes of the Fatherland, on the eve of the event, the participants laid flowers at the memorial plaque inside the department building.

When opening the meeting, Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin reminded the audience that the event took place on the eve of one of Russia's most significant national holidays – Defender of the Fatherland Day. “It is a great tradition of the Russian officer, Russian soldier – to defend the Motherland!” the head of the department stressed, congratulating the participants of the meeting.

Speaking about the headquarters work, A. I. Bastrykin noted that the Main Investigative Department and the Main Forensics Department of the IC of Russia were continuing to investigate the criminal case on the genocide of the peoples of the Soviet Union by the Nazi invaders and their accomplices during the Great Patriotic War. The investigation unites 21 criminal cases on mass killings of civilians of the Republic of Crimea, Volgograd, Kaluga, Kursk, Leningrad, Novgorod, Oryol, Pskov, Rostov and Smolensk Oblasts, Krasnodar Krai, and Stavropol Krai.

The Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation reported that in 2021, during the investigation within the country, more than 127 places of mass burial of Nazi invaders' victims were examined, and bone remains of more than 1,400 persons were exhumed, at least 200 of them were children. During the investigation, irrefutable evidence of the purposeful destruction of civilians was obtained. Moreover, the specialists continue the effective work on documenting crimes of the Nazi invaders in order to raise the issue of recognizing them in court as genocide of the Soviet people.

During his speech, the head of the department noted the effectiveness of the IC of Russia's interaction with volunteers of the All-Russian Public Movement Poiskovoye Dvizheniye Rossii (Search Movement of Russia), as well as the All-Russian Public Movement Volonyory Pobedy (Volunteers of Victory). At the same time, specific search activities have been requested and are being arranged by regional investigative authorities, on the territory of which the graves of civilians and prisoners of war have been found. The participants also discussed the ongoing cooperation with the relevant authorities of a number of foreign countries, within the framework of which it is planned to create a joint work group and an international investigative group.

The meeting participants noted the importance of joint work to perpetuate the memory of people who died defending the Fatherland and to counter the falsification of history. Thus, L. V. Leshchenko shared his memories of the war and post-war years, when, having lost his mother early, he actually became a son of the regiment. He stressed the importance of the department's work on patriotic education of young people, supporting the initiative of the IC of Russia in this area. In turn, A. G. Zvyagintsev summed up the interim results of the joint activities of the Investigative Committee of Russia and the National Film Foundation Patriot to create documentaries about the ancestors' heroic deeds and evidence of Nazi crimes collected by the IC investigators. According to him, audiovisual reproduction of notable events, broadcasting them on federal TV channels, and a wide public response contribute to the correct perception of historical facts by the younger generation, increase their legal awareness and culture level.

Developing the topic of spiritual values continuity, A. I. Bastrykin expressed the opinion that the moral and patriotic education of schoolchildren required the close attention of relevant ministries. At the same time, there are 4 cadet corps and the Boarding School for Girls within the Investigative Committee of Russia system, while children who would like to become investigators, but for some reason cannot study in cadet corps, can enroll in specialized cadet classes. The purpose of the department is not just to train the future employees well, but also to bring up patriotic youth with an active civic position, as well as to establish the concepts of “honor” and “dignity” in their minds.

The Chairman of the IC of Russia informed that in the year of the 77th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, as part of the Year of the Cultural Heritage of the Peoples of Russia, the 350th anniversary of Peter I and the 80th anniversary of the main battles of the Great Patriotic War, the Investigative Committee launches the All-Russian Relay Race Svyaz Pokolyeniy (Link of Generations). This event is aimed at uniting the older and younger generations of the country on the grounds of continuing and strengthening the historical traditions of the Fatherland and protecting its spiritual values. Members of Youth Union Yuny Sledovatel (Young Investigator), youth organizations and associations of the Russian Federation constituents, members of public organizations uniting war veterans, military conflict veterans and investigation veterans, as well as employees of investigative authorities and members of their families will take part in the event.

The headquarters meeting summarized the results of the work of the initiative group of students and teachers of the Cadet Boarding School named after Hero of the Soviet Union Beznoskov and employees of the investigative department of the IC of Russia in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug – Yugra to identify close relatives of Great Patriotic War combatants decorated with awards seized from criminal case defendants. The painstaking work resulted in returning the stolen orders to the relatives of veterans living in various Russian regions. During the final part of the meeting, the ceremony was held to hand over the Order of the Patriotic War 2nd Class belonging to the Great Patriotic War veteran Mikhail Prokopevich Pazhitnev to the official representative of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia for further presentation to the veteran's relatives at their place of residence in Yerevan. Departmental awards were also given to the search movement activists.

“Our sacred duty is to protect the good name of the living and fallen soldiers-liberators, civilians, victims of the Nazis. In the name of the victorious people, we will do everything to ensure that even after such a long time no crime based on racial superiority ideas remains unpunished and unnoticed,” Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin concluded the event, adding that the department would continue its work on preserving the memory and preventing falsification of the Great Patriotic War history.

Within the event, the photo exhibition Otvaga! Muzhestvo! Chest! (Courage! Valor! Honor!) was opened. It is dedicated to the work of the investigative authorities of the IC of Russia in the Syrian Arab Republic, where Russian investigators conduct preliminary investigation into criminal cases on crimes committed by terrorists against the Russian military.