Russia opens criminal case into discovery of mass graves of '295 civilians' in Donbas

Russia’s Investigative Committee has said on Wednesday that it opened a criminal case after discovering mass graves of civilians in Donbas. In a statement, the Russian Investigative Committee said, “A criminal case was initiated on the discovery of mass graves of civilians in the territory of Donbas under part 1 of article 356 of the Russian Criminal Code — ill-treatment of the civilian population, the use of means and methods in an armed conflict prohibited by an international treaty”.

It further added that remains of at least “295 civilians” who died “as a result of indiscriminate shelling by Ukrainian armed forces in 2014 were exhumed from them. It is already known that among the remains there are bodies of women of different ages”. Sputnik stated that from August 2021 to October 2021, at least five spontaneous mass graves were discovered in the village of Slavyanoserbsk, in the residential area of Sokogorovka Pervomaisk, the village of Vidnoe-1 near Lugansk and also on the outskirts of the village of Verkhneshevyrevka, Krasnodonsky district.

Image credits: sledcom.ru

The Russian Investigative Committee launching a criminal probe into the mass graves came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the current events in the Donbas region are a “genocide”. Kremlin leader had further said that the Ukrainian government has continued to violate human rights such as legalising discrimination of the Russian-speaking population in the Ukrainian region. 

Ukraine appeals to UNSC over Donbas region

Meanwhile, Ukraine has submitted an initiative to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to discuss the Russian State Duma’s appeal for Putin to recognise the Donetsk people’s Republic (DPR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) on 17 February, said Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba on Wednesday, adding that the resolution “undermines Minsk agreements and the peace process.” Kuleba’s remarks came after Russian federal lawmakers on Tuesday approved a draft resolution that calls on Russian President Vladimir Putin to recognise the two self-declared republics in Donbas as independent states.

According to Sputnik, amid the ongoing Moscow-Kyiv standoff, the resolution received extremely wide support in the Russian State Duma. However, Putin appeared to be cool to the idea. The Russian President told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that he would do everything he could to solve the problems of the Donets River basin. Putin also noted that the potential for success in the Mink agreements was not yet exhausted. 

Image: AP