MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/. Alexander Bastrykin, who heads the Russian Investigative Committee, believes that the Russian special operation in Ukraine made it possible to avert major civilian casualties in Donbass.

"If Russian army had not launched the special operation, the Ukrainian nationalists would have had much more power and scope to concentrate their strikes on the DPR and LPR. In that case, the number of civilian casualties would have been much higher," Bastrykin told TASS in the interview.

"Judging by what we see now, the nationalists are ready for any civilian casualties," Bastrykin noted. He stressed that a major Ukrainian armed faction is located in Donbass. Earlier, the Russian military obtained documents from the National Guard of Ukraine, which indicated that a massive offensive was in the works.