The Russian Investigative Committee has charged in absentia commander of the Ukrainian armed forces’ 10th mountain assault brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Vasily Zubanich, and commander of the 1st battalion of the 15th separate mechanized brigade, Lieutenant Colonel Mikhail Prokopiv, with shelling the civilian population of the Donbass region, the committee’s spokesperson, Svetlana Petrenko, told TASS on Tuesday.

"The evidence collected made it possible to charge Zubanich and Prokopiv in absentia with organizing the use of means and methods prohibited by the Russian Federation’s international treaty in the armed conflict, that is, committing crimes under Part 3, Article 3 and Part 1 Artile 356 of Russia’s Criminal Code," Petrenko said.