The British organization Forensic Architecture “collected materials”, allegedly proving the participation of the Russian armed forces in the battles near Ilovaisk in Ukraine in 2014. This was written by The Guardian, which also published a video with the materials presented.

The publication claims that Forensic Architecture collected satellite images of supposedly “Russian military convoys”, as well as several images of T-72B3 tanks. British researchers claim that these tanks were in service only with the Russian Armed Forces.

Commenting on the findings of British human rights defenders and researchers, the deputy chief of the DPR People’s Police Department, Eduard Basurin, emphasized that only militia units equipped with captured Ukrainian equipment took part in the battles near Ilovaisk in 2014.

“There was no talk of any Russian technology. No evidence has been presented. Words alone. The former Ukrainian equipment was used there, which the Ukrainian military threw here when they left the Donbass. The captured equipment was used, ”Interfax quotes Basurin as saying.

Eduard Basurin noted that the T-72 tanks, which attracted the attention of British researchers, are also in service with the Armed Forces.

“The Ukrainian army was armed with various types of tank equipment, including the T-72 and T-80. In the Donetsk region there were several warehouses with such equipment, for example near Artyomovsk. And after the Ukrainian army left, this equipment came under our control, ”said Basurin.

The director general of the Center for Political Information, Alexei Mukhin, said in a conversation with RT that such informational occasions can be assessed as preparation for a story similar to the case of Skripal poisoning.

“For five years in the Western society, the media has rooted the stereotypes that Ukraine is at war with Russia and is not waging an internal civil war. Now, with the help of this study, these stereotypes can be superimposed with “evidence” of doubtful nature. This will give the impression that Russia is guilty of those actions for which the leadership of Ukraine bears responsibility. They are trying to divert attention from the situation in which the leadership of Ukraine in 2014 found itself and in which it is still located, ”the political scientist noted.

These actions can be regarded as “fabrication of evidence”, added Alexei Mukhin.

“I hope that Russian lawyers representing the interests of the state will respond accordingly and file a counterclaim based on this fabrication,” the expert emphasized.

Human Rights Contract

Forensic Architecture conducted its study in a contract from the European Center for the Protection of Human Rights, which will represent the "volunteers" who fought on the side of the Armed Forces. The Guardian writes that 25 participants of the Donbass volunteer battalion, who took part in the battles near Ilovaisk on the side of the Kiev authorities, are going to file a lawsuit with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). They claim that they were captured by the people, "as they believe, from the regular formation of the Russian army."

  • Broken tank on the road to Ilovaisk
  • AFP
  • © FRANCISCO LEONG

They then allegedly handed over Ukrainian volunteers to representatives of unrecognized republics. It is alleged that there they “were subjected to torture and forced labor”. Now volunteers want to hold Russia accountable and seek compensation through the ECHR.

The European Center for the Protection of Human Rights (EHRAC) will help them in this, a group that was founded in 2003 to partner with the Russian human rights center Memorial in filing the first complaints regarding the Chechen conflict.

Memorial is still one of our key partners, and conflicts in the territory of the former Soviet Union are the main theme of our specialization, the experience in which has won us widespread recognition. In addition to projects in Russia, we also work closely with lawyers and human rights defenders in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Ukraine in the area of ​​pressing human rights issues, ”the organization’s official website says.

The organization’s policy statement notes that it is based in London and is part of the Law School of Middlesex University.

Technological solutions

Since Russia denies its involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine, the EHRAC needs “strong evidence” to file a lawsuit with the ECHR, representatives of the organization say.

To obtain this evidence, Forensic Architecture applied machine learning technology or a neural network, with the help of which about 2.5 thousand hours of YouTube videos were allegedly watched, allegedly related to the battles near Ilovaisk, The Guardian reports. The program selected frames where “there was a high probability of the appearance of a tank,” which were then sent to researchers.

"Evidence of Russian military involvement should be as convincing as possible," The Guardian quotes Jessica Gavron, legal director of the European Center for the Protection of Human Rights.

However, the researchers did not report on how the videos belonged to the events of 2014, as well as their authenticity. The footage published by The Guardian shows that Forensic Architecture used materials from the infamous “expert” organization Bellingcat in its study, the findings of which have been repeatedly refuted by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

“Verbal allegations”

The DPR People’s Police said that Forensic Architecture materials are not true.

“The West does not abandon attempts to drag Russia into the conflict in the Donbass, claiming the alleged presence of Russian military and equipment here. However, over 5 years, in addition to unfounded accusations, no evidence was provided, ”RIA Novosti quoted the deputy head of the People’s Police Department of the DPR.

  • Militiamen of the Donetsk People's Republic in Ilovaysk
  • RIA News
  • © Gennady Dubovoi

Military political scientist, head of the department of political science and sociology G.V. Plekhanova Andrei Koshkin, in an interview with RT, noted that the appearance of such “informational occasions” was associated with a change of power in Ukraine, which the West wants to give the necessary course.

“When today there was some possibility of changes regarding the unrecognized republics of the DPR and LPR in connection with the election of a new president, old wounds began to swell, trying to fill them with new information. Information related to the fact that Russia is allegedly to blame for this conflict and therefore the new president Zelensky should pursue the policies pursued by the previous president, although in principle he emphasized in his election rhetoric that he would stop the armed confrontation, ”the expert noted.

Ukraine has almost lost its independence socially, politically and militarily, says Andrei Koshkin.

“And now it only remains to skillfully pull the strings in order to achieve the desired result from the puppet government, the puppet state of Ukraine. Probably, similar pictures and so on are connected with this. They would have better shown how the MH17 tragedy over the Donbass took place, no one provides pictures, no objective investigations are conducted, they do not even take into account the Russian experience of the investigation. So this kind of stuffing is most likely a momentary political order, which should ensure the manageability of Ukraine from abroad, ”the expert concluded.