ST. PETERSBURG, July 24 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian Investigative Committee knows the names of at least 40 Ukrainian military personnel who have committed crimes against civilians in their country, committee head Alexander Bastrykin said Thursday.
“We know the names of more than 40 military middle-ranked personnel and the commanders of brigades, battalions, units, artillery units and pilots who have fired at civilian neighborhoods. We’ll get each of them,” Bastrykin said.
In connection with the events in the southeast of Ukraine, the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the use of prohibited means and methods of warfare. The defendants in the case are Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and Dnipropetrovsk Region Governor Igor Kolomoisky, sponsor of a number of Ukrainian security groups.
In turn, Ukraine’s Interior Ministry opened a criminal case against Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeev. According to the Ukrainian police, these people helped to formed and send the "illegal armed groups," what Kiev calls independence supporters, to southeast Ukraine.
Kiev authorities launched a special military operation in the east of Ukraine in mid-April in a crackdown on the independence movement. Hundreds of people, including civilians have died in Luhansk and Donetsk regions over the past few months.
Moscow has described the ongoing military action as a punitive operation and has repeatedly called on Kiev to put an immediate end to the bloodshed.
