Former Verkhovna Rada deputy Aleksey Zhuravko released documents that, according to him, testify to crimes committed by Ukrainian security forces in Donetsk and Lugansk regions in the early years of the armed conflict in southeastern Ukraine.
Attached to the Facebook post are photos of photocopies of documents on violations of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine against the civilian population of Donbass. This information, as well as summary statistics of crimes, dates back to 2014-2015 and was addressed to the Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak.
Zhuravko spoke only about a few resonant crimes of the Ukrainian military in the Donbass. Among the published materials is the incident in November 2014 when a contractor of the 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, intoxicated, entered a private house where he raped a girl and killed her father who defended her.
In March 2015, in the city of Konstantinovka, Donetsk Region, a drunk driver of an armored personnel carrier drove into two pedestrians who were on the sidewalk. According to the document, the girl born in 2008 died on the spot. The second victim received injuries of varying severity.
In June 2015, two Ukrainian soldiers drafted to mobilize while intoxicated entered a private house where two women were killed. Also described is the case when three soldiers used taxi services to get to the location of the unit, but quarreled with the driver and shot him with full-time weapons (AKS-74), hiding his body in a forest belt. According to documents, in three of the four cases described, cases were initiated under the article “Intentional murder”.
Zhuravko also released a report dated 2015, according to which, since April 2014, 147 crimes were committed against the local population in the “ATO zone”. Among them, premeditated murder (20), illegal imprisonment or kidnapping (19) and illegal seizure of a vehicle (19) predominate.
In total, 60 civilians were killed during the period due to the actions of the military and the Armed Forces.
“War crimes have no statute of limitations. These facts and these documents were sent to Minister of Defense S. Poltorak, who for me is a war criminal, a killer of his own people ... These documents will be evidence of terrible crimes in the process of a military tribunal over these criminals, ”Zhuravko emphasized.
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We will remind that after the events of "Euromaidan" in April 2014, the "anti-terrorist operation" (ATO) started in eastern Ukraine. The zone of its holding included areas of Donetsk, Lugansk and Kharkov regions, whose residents did not recognize the violent, unconstitutional change of power in the country. A militia was formed in several regions, to combat which Kiev sent military and so-called volunteer battalions - this was the beginning of the armed conflict in Donbass, which has been going on for more than five years.
Commenting on the documents made public by Zhuravko, Igor Korotchenko, a member of the Public Council at the Russian Ministry of Defense, and editor-in-chief of the National Defense magazine, said that during an armed confrontation in the southeast of the country, the Ukrainian army massively committed crimes against civilians. According to the expert, the published information is not a sensation.
“How the Ukrainian army behaved in the Donbass is well known. In general, we can characterize the Ukrainian army as an instrument of violence against a part of the population living in eastern Ukraine. They stained their banners with mass crimes against humanity, the destruction of civilians, robberies and robbery, ”the expert said.
According to the interlocutor of RT, the Armed Forces of Ukraine turned into "an army of punishers, executing the orders of those who carried out a coup d'etat." Korotchenko stressed that every crime against civilians should be investigated, and Ukrainian war criminals should be brought to justice either in Ukraine or in international instances.
In turn, political analyst Ivan Mezyukho noted that violation by the Ukrainian security forces of the rights and freedoms of man and citizen in Donetsk and Lugansk regions is not a secret.
“Information about such violations in these regions has been heard all five years, even in some Ukrainian media. Unfortunately, international human rights organizations are sluggishly reacting to the facts of violation of the rights of a citizen and a person by Kiev in the LPR and DPR, ”the expert said in a conversation with RT.
The political scientist also doubted that the new Ukrainian authorities would conduct comprehensive investigations into the facts of human rights violations in the territories of the self-proclaimed republics of Donbass and in other regions of Ukraine.
“Perhaps investigations will be conducted on some separate issues in order to denigrate the previous government. Because the previous political elite is now in opposition to the political regime in Ukraine led by Zelensky, ”Mezyuho noted.
At the same time, he emphasized that under the new president, the Minsk agreements, which underlie the peaceful settlement of the situation in the Donbass, are still not respected. According to Mezuho, the Ukrainian side is still not inclined to a constructive dialogue with the leaders of the DPR and LPR.
“That’s why I don’t believe that now the new Ukrainian authorities will initiate an objective and comprehensive investigation into the violation of human rights by Ukrainian officials in relation to residents of Donetsk and Lugansk regions,” the expert concluded.