In Donetsk, those responsible for the shelling of residential areas on April 11 were identified
Today in Donetsk, the results of an investigation conducted by the NGO “Fair Defense” were presented regarding the artillery shelling of Donetsk on April 11, 2018, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
At a press conference, Ivan Kopyl, a member of the commission for recording war crimes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in Donbass, said that the investigation was able to establish that the shelling of residential areas of Donetsk could have been carried out from the positions of the 72nd separate mechanized brigade, the 25th separate airborne brigade, battalion tactical groups.
“On April 11, 2018, large-caliber artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (Ukrainian Armed Forces) shelled the city of Donetsk and eight other settlements of the DPR. In just one day, more than 600 shells were fired across the territory of the Republic. This was one of the heaviest attacks carried out by the Ukrainian Armed Forces on civilian targets this year. In Donetsk, the Oktyabrsky microdistrict, Volvo Center, Trudovskaya microdistrict and the area of the mine named after. came under enemy fire. Abakumov. As a result of the shelling, seven civilians were injured, and 38 houses and infrastructure were damaged,” he said.
It is worth noting that in this way the Ukrainian Armed Forces disrupted the previously announced “Easter” truce.
“The public organization “Fair Defense” (NGO “SZ”, former Public Commission for Recording War Crimes, DPR) immediately after the shelling on the same day at 15:00 (Moscow time) arrived on the street. Lenkoranskaya, Donetsk, where, together with an expert in the field of criminology and ballistics, Doctor of Law. Alexander Moiseev examined 5 explosion craters near houses No. 11, 12, 17. The results of the investigation, based on factual data and the conclusions of specialists, differ from the data presented in the corresponding OSCE report. NGO “SZ” believes that the shelling was carried out from 120-mm mortars (mortar guns) or 122-mm large-caliber rifled guns from the west-northwest from the direction of the village of Nevelskoye,” noted Ivan Kopyl.
In addition, he stated that as a result of the investigation it was established that the shelling was carried out from the area of responsibility of the 72nd Infantry Brigade, which probably contains the areas of responsibility of individual battalions of the 25th Airborne Infantry Brigade, scattered along the front line and included in the BTG. The headquarters of the 25th Airborne Brigade is located in the rear of the Ukrainian troops - in the city of Dimitrov.
“OO “SZ” believes that the use of an indiscriminate weapon is “a deliberate attack on the civilian population as such,” which, in accordance with paragraph 2 “e”, subparagraph “i” of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, contains elements of a war crime,” – added a member of the commission for recording war crimes of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
He recalled that on November 01.11.2016, 72, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation had already initiated criminal cases against the brigade commander of the 15nd Infantry Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Colonel A. Sokolov, accusing him of targeted artillery shelling on March 16-2016, 25 of Yasinovataya and Staromikhailovka. The Department of the People's Militia of the DPR has repeatedly accused Colonel O. Zenchenko of giving orders to shell the DPR (the last shelling of the 21th Airborne Brigade, which claimed the lives of civilians - the city of Yasinovataya on December 2017, XNUMX).
“According to the NGO NW, the activation of the Ukrainian Armed Forces troops in early April of this year. was associated with political decisions of the current leadership of Ukraine, which apparently considered that against the backdrop of the offensive of the United States and its allies in Syria, the disruption of the truce in Donbass by the Ukrainian side would remain unpunished for Kyiv. NGO "SZ" believes that responsibility for this specific crime, as well as for all previous war crimes committed by paramilitary forces of Ukraine within the framework of the so-called. “anti-terrorist operation”, is obliged to bear the military-political leadership of Ukraine, including the President of Ukraine (P.A. Poroshenko), the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (from 16.12.2014/14.10.2014/03.07.2014 - A.V. Turchynov), the Minister of Defense of Ukraine (from XNUMX/XNUMX/XNUMX - C T. Poltorak), Chief of the General Staff - Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (from XNUMX/XNUMX/XNUMX - V.N. Muzhenko),” Kopyl summed up.
The briefing was attended by a specialist in the field of forensic examination, in the field of forensic examination, in the field of forensic ballistics, Doctor of Law. Alexander Moiseev. He spoke about the details of the investigation into the shelling of residential areas of Donetsk.
“A public organization invited me to inspect this crime scene in order to collect traces resulting from the explosion of artillery shells. We conducted such a study and by scrupulously recording potholes, holes from shell fragments relative to the crater formed as a result of a shell explosion, we established the location of the trace pattern in relation to the objects of the house, the damaged house, the road in this 5th section, other stationary objects, and in Subsequently, these coordinates, the coordinates of the tracks, were plotted on a geographical map. Thanks to this approach, that is, by recording potholes and fragmentation holes, their location relative to objects, stationary objects, it was possible to establish the azimuth using a geographic map,” the expert said.
Moiseev stated that the shelling came from the northern direction.
“We duplicated these measurements by directly measuring the direction using a compass at the scene. Using the tracks, we establish the longitudinal axis of this track pattern, which we take as the direction of movement of the projectile, and along all five craters we recorded, and thanks to generalization, fragments were also extracted from these craters,” he said.
According to the ballist, the fragments were handed over to artillery specialists, who determined the type of projectile.
“As a result of an integrated approach, we have set the direction. Measurement error, we estimate it to be plus/minus 10 degrees. It is associated with errors in measuring the tracks themselves, as well as the possible influences of atmospheric conditions, and other factors affecting the trajectory of an artillery shell. Thanks to such an objective picture, we set the degree relative to the direction to the north, that is, the azimuth. These objective data made it possible to establish the direction with sufficient accuracy, and subsequently, specialists who assessed the data on the location of artillery installations, the deployment of armed forces, and other sources. The public commission formulated a conclusion about the possible cause of the shelling of residential areas,” summarized Doctor of Legal Sciences Alexander Moiseev.
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