Events

The Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia holds a brief working meeting in Melitopol

Mr. Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, held a brief working meeting of the headquarters for the investigation of crimes committed by Ukrainian formations against civilians and Russian military personnel on the territory of Russia and Ukraine. The meeting was held in the city of Melitopol, Zaporozhye oblast. It was attended by Mr. Eduard Valerievich Kaburneev, the First Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Mr. Konstantin Evgenievich Korpusov, Acting Deputy Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Russia - Head of the Main Military Investigative Directorate, Mr. Anatoly Ivanovich Sazonov, Head of the Main Forensic Directorate of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Mr. Mikhail Anatolyevich Ignashkin, Deputy Director of the Forensic Expert Center of the Investigative Committee, Hero of Russia Sergey Vasilyevich Petrov, Head of the Directorate for Educational Work, as well as the leadership of the Investigative Committee, Officers of the Main Directorate, including the Main Investigative Directorate and Military Investigative Bodies of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

The Head of the Department was informed about the latest results on the investigations of the crimes committed by the Kiev regime against the civilian population and Russian military personnel, including investigation of crimes committed by the Ukrainian nationalists on the territory of Zaporozhye oblast.

In total, the Investigative Committee of Russia finalized the investigation of 112 criminal cases up to date. Thus, at present, the preliminary investigation has been finalized on the criminal case against the commander of the 501st separate marine battalion of the 36th separate marine brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, lieutenant colonel Nikolai Biryukov and his subordinate sergeant Nikolai Oleksenko on charges of ill-treatment of the civilian population. It was established that during the liberation of the Mariupol city by the allied forces of Russia and the DPR, Mr. Biryukov tried to hold his positions at all costs and repeatedly ordered his subordinates to open fire on any targets, including civilians. In particular, in March of this year, Sergeant Oleksenko gave the criminal order to Mr. Biryukov to murder a civilian cyclist with a small automatic gun.

Between the end of September to the present, 402 nationalists of the Azov Regiment (the organization is banned on the territory of Russia by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation) were delivered to the territory of Russia. They are placed in specialized institutions on the territories of the Volgograd, Rostov, Belgorod and Voronezh oblasts. With interdepartmental cooperation with the FSB of Russia and the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, a set of complex investigative and operational-search measures towards them was organized. As a result of such work with the detainees, new facts of ill-treatment of the civilian population committed by members of the Ukrainian armed formations were documented.

Thus, the circumstances of the shelling of civilian infrastructure facilities of the DPR, committed on May 9, 2017, by order of the commander of the Azov Regiment, senior lieutenant Maxim Zhorin, were revealled. On this day, artillery shelling of the Bezymennoye village, Novoazovsky raion of the DPR was carried out resulting in damage of residential buildings, two sections of the gas pipeline and the territory of the Bezymensky secondary school. According to investigation, the command of the Azov Regiment so-called "congratulated" residents of the DPR on Victory Day, as they disagreed with the policy of the Ukrainian government. To date, a number of militants from this detachment have been captured, and the necessary set of investigative actions and operational-search measures towards them are being carried out. The investigation is also inspecting the involvement of Mr. Zhorin in the murders of civilians in the Kupyansk city, Kharkov oblast, videos of which he posted in social media.

During the examination research of expropriated documentation, information significant for the investigation was obtained regarding the conduct of the Mariupol defense and the orders of the Ukrainian command to deploy positions in residential areas, firing at civilians and civilian infrastructure. Currently, investigators and operational services are actively working in this direction resulting in establishing identities of specific individuals and their function. Among them is deputy commander of the 12th brigade of the NSU military unit 3057 "Azov", Mr. Sergey Zagreba, who directly supervised the "Bastion" headquarter of Mariupol defense during the Special Military Operation and gave orders to kill civilians and unarmed military personnel of the Russian Federation, the LPR and the DPR. He also gave orders with the provision of coordinates for shelling by tanks, artillery and mortars of civilian infrastructure in Mariupol, which caused massive destruction and death of civilians.

Within the ongoing work to evaluating the amount of damage caused, inspections of residential buildings and civil infrastructure facilities have been completed in the cities of Mariupol, Rubizhne, Severodonetsk, Shchastia, Kirovsk, Stakhanov and Krasny Luch. According to experts, the total cost of restoration work is at least 217 billion rubles.

During the meeting special attention was paid to the criminal investigation of case on death of the Prosecutor General of the LPR. The Head of the Department was informed about the initial lines of the investigation, the results of the work done by forensic specialists in documenting and analyzing the evidence received. Work also continues on the investigation of crimes related to the creation of "concentration camps" by Ukrainian nationalists in the settlements of Donbas.

After listening to the reports of his subordinates, Mr. A.I. Bastrykin instructed, in co-operation with other Authorized Departments, to intensify the organization of the search for persons who are suspected and accused in criminal cases of crimes of the mentioned above category.

The Head of the Department was informed about the ongoing work to provide humanitarian assistance to Russian military personnel and residents of new constituent entities of the Russian Federation and assistance in organizing children's recreation for residents of regions affected by the actions of Ukrainian nationalists.

At the end of the meeting, the Chairman of the Investigative Committee added that it is necessary to continue to provide assistance to persons affected by the actions of Ukrainian nationalists, including assistance like education to juveniles and other issues, taking into account the stipulated social and legal norms.