MOSCOW, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - Russia expects Kiev to investigate “humanitarian crimes,” which followed the February coup, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law, Konstantin Dolgov told Kommersant FM radio Monday.
“We are still waiting for the concrete measures that will form the basis of the investigation of humanitarian crimes, carried out during the punitive operation, starting from Euromaidan [the events on Kiev’s Independence Square], and continuing in Odessa, Mariupol, and so on, from the Ukrainian authorities. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen such moves yet,” Dolgov said in an interview to Kommersant FM on Monday.
“Our position – I’ll stress it again – has been repeatedly voiced … and has not changed, because Russia … is not involved in the situation, is not a participant of Ukraine’s interior conflict, hence the responsibility lies, first and foremost, with the Ukrainian parties,” Dolgov added.
Ukraine underwent a regime change in February, following mass protests on central Kiev’s Independence Square, known as Maidan. According to official information from Ukraine’s Health Ministry, the clashes on Maidan resulted in the deaths of 104 people. However, the organization of Maidan volunteer doctors, estimates the death toll at around 780 people.
On May 2, clashes between pro-federalization and pro-Kiev activists, resulted in the House of Trade Unions building being set alight killing at least 48 people in Ukraine’s southern port city of Odessa. Also in May, there were violent clashes in the city of Mariupol, in the Donetsk region, reportedly resulting in a further nine deaths.
