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About 5 thousand residents of Donbass were killed by Ukrainian security forces, almost 9 thousand more were injured since 2014, Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee of Russia claimed in his interview on February 20.
The investigation of Kiev’s crimes confirmed that more than 120 thousand residents of Donbass were recognized as victims, i.e. their health and property were damaged as a result of the criminal actions of the Ukrainian side.
The Russian official claimed that, according to the investigation, almost 14 thousand residents of Donbass have suffered from the criminal actions of the Ukrainian side for nine years. About 5 thousand of them were killed and almost 9 thousand were injured.
The Russian Investigative Committee has also collected evidence confirming the involvement of the Ukrainian authorities in the “genocide” of the population of Donbass.
“Thousands of volumes of materials have been collected confirming the commission of crimes by the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Security Forces. … All of them directly confirm the involvement of the highest military and political leadership of Ukraine in the genocide of the Russian-speaking population of Donbass, crimes against the peace and security of mankind, as well as other crimes against the individual,” Aleksandr Bastrykin said.
The investigations have been going on for about nine years. The evidences include statements of witnesses, photographs and other materials.
Almost none of the interrogated Ukrainian prisoners feels any remorse for the crimes against the residents of Donbass, Bastrykin added.
Criminal cases on prohibited methods of warfare were launched against almost 700 members of Ukrainian security forces. About 120 of them are commanders and top officials of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. Investigators have established facts of ill-treatment of civilians, as well as torture of military and civilians, kidnapping, illegal imprisonment, genocide and extremism, the agency reported.
The Russian Investigative Committee will officially present the results of the investigations to the court and the entire world community.
The Russian special military operation in Ukraine was launched in order to protect civilians in Donbass, who have been suffering from the Kiev regime political and military aggression for more than 8 years.
Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke about the need to protect the population of Donbass from “genocide by the Kiev regime.” According to the Russian President, the Ukrainian authorities conducted two “punitive” operations against residents of the eastern regions of the country and began to persecute those who did not support the coup in Ukraine in 2014.
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Earlier on February 19, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee reported that the investigation confirmed the involvement of the special services of Ukraine in the explosion on the Crimean Bridge, which took place on October 8, 2022. 12 people directly involved in the explosion were identified. They include citizens of Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and Georgia. Eight of them were arrested.
“All the information received is summarized and systematized in order to establish a complete picture of what happened and identify other persons involved in this crime,” Bastrykin added.
The FSB had earlier blamed the explosion on the military intelligence of Ukraine and its head Kirill Budanov. The special service considered that the bomb was sent from the Odessa port to the Bulgarian city of Ruse two months before the explosion. Then the explosives were transported to the Georgian city of Poti, and later to Armenia, from where it was sent to the city of Armavir in the Russian Krasnodar region. From there, the truck with the explosives was sent to the capital of Crimea, Simferopol.
