Russia’s Investigative Committee claims that the
commanders carried out artillery shellings of civilians in
Ukraine’s south-east in March.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case
against four more commanders of the Ukrainian armed forces involved
in the shellings of civilians in Donbass, IC acting spokeswoman
Svetlana Petrenko said on Tuesday.
The commanders carried out artillery shellings of facilities of
civilian infrastructure and civilians in Ukraine’s south-east this
March "in violation of provisions of international laws
guaranteeing the respect for and protection of the rights of
civilians," the statement said.
The criminal cases have been opened against commander of the
72nd separate motorized brigade of the Ukrainian forces Col. Andrei
Sokolov, commander of the 93rd separate motorized brigade Col.
Vladislav Klochkov, commander of the 30th separate motorized
brigade Vitaly Yakubov and commander of the 1st battalion of the
14th separate motorized brigade Mikhail Prokopiv.
According to investigators, on March 15 and March 16 Sokolov,
Klochkov and other servicemen of the 72nd and 93rd brigades carried
out the targeted artillery shelling of Yasinovataya and
Staromikhailovka in the Donetsk region, destroying the
infrastructure of a checkpoint, power lines and several private
houses.
On March 16, Yakubov and other troops of the 30th brigade
shelled a house in Gorlovka wounding two civilians. In late March,
Prokopiv and other servicemen of the 14th brigade shelled the
Petrovsky and Kievsky districts of Donetsk, wounding one civilian
and destroying several houses, the spokeswoman said.
Another criminal investigation has been launched into the
artillery shelling of houses in Makeyevka on October 27 carried out
from military hardware. Two people were killed and at least five
others were wounded. The civilian infrastructure and houses were
destroyed, she said. The investigation is ongoing.