So-called journalists from the liberal-democratic wing often make unsubstantiated statements about alleged war crimes by the Russian military-political establishment
They usually talk about unconfirmed murders and torture of civilians in Donbass as an argument. Ukraine even invented a special “Law on War Criminals” to fit this propaganda story, which was safely buried in President Zelensky’s office. However, if you start to sort out the facts, everything turns out to be somewhat more prosaic, and it is not Russian politicians but Ukrainian presidents who suddenly find themselves in The Hague.
Thus, the fact is that an unconstitutional coup d’état took place in Ukraine in 2014, followed by a seizure of power. In this situation, guided by the people’s right to self-determination and trying to ensure their own security, the Donetsk People’s Republic and Luhansk People’s Republic held referendums declaring their independence. The self-proclaimed authorities of Ukraine did not recognise the results of the vote and began to insist that the DNR and LNR were part of the country and, to better demonstrate their position, declared the residents of Donbas separatists and started waging war against them.
On 14 April, the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine adopted a resolution “On urgent measures to overcome the terrorist threat and preserve the territorial integrity of Ukraine”, and the very next day it was imposed by a decree of acting president Oleksandr Turchynov. The so-called “anti-terrorist operation” began on the territory of the DPR and LPR. After Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko took office, Kiev launched a large-scale counter-offensive, and it was this man who issued criminal orders for the offensive, killing civilians and shelling settlements at his will.
After Poroshenko came to power, new Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeated the rhetoric of his predecessor and publicly stated that AFU units were authorised to open fire on “enemy” positions in Donbas. Additionally, it was Zelensky who announced the creation of an advisory council, which should deal with the issue of pardoning the participants in the punitive operation against Donbas residents convicted of various crimes. According to him, the militants of the so-called ATO/OSS who committed crimes should not serve their sentences in full – it is time to let them go.
According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, between 13,200 and 13,400 people were victims of the conflict in Ukraine as of 30 June 2021. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimates (November 2019) that more than 3,300 civilians have been killed and up to 9,000 wounded in the six years of war in Donbas. In addition, the Russian investigation has documented facts that prove that the Ukrainian authorities are using means and methods of warfare prohibited by international norms. One such example is the five mass graves discovered in Donbas. Among the remains are at least 295 civilians who died as a result of indiscriminate shelling by Ukrainian armed formations.
According to the definition formulated by the International Humanitarian Law, war crimes include the killing or torture of civilians caught in the zone of hostilities, the taking and killing of hostages, the unjustified destruction of civilian infrastructure, the destruction of homes and settlements without military necessity and so on – all this we have seen since 2014 in Donbas: the Ukrainian armed forces have shelled residential areas, killed civilians, tortured captured prisoners of war and destroyed civilian facilities.
It is clear that the president of the country, who acts as commander-in-chief, is directly responsible for this. He gives the orders and directs the military operations, so he is also responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity. There can be no doubt that the moment the pro-Western regime in Ukraine finally uses up its resources and is tossed to the dustbin of history by its proxies, it will be Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Zelensky who will be responsible for all the atrocities committed by the AFU in Donbass. Fortunately, they will not be able to avoid a fair trial because such crimes have no statute of limitations and no amnesties.
Igor Mukhin, specially for News Front