MOSCOW, July 25. /TASS/. Ukrainian nationalists have destroyed over 7,000 civilian infrastructure facilities, Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin said.
"They are intensively shelling the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics [DPR and LPR], delivering violent and unprincipled strikes against civilians, civilian infrastructure facilities, including childcare facilities," Bastrykin said in an interview with Russia’s Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily. "They are shelling not only the DPR and LPR but their own territories as well with the aim of accusing later Russian troops of this."
"They do not care at all about people’s lives. Nationalists have destroyed or partly damaged over 7,000 civilian infrastructure facilities, including residential houses, schools, kindergartens and transportation vehicles," he said adding that the use of force by Ukrainian nationalists cannot be justified.
According to him, it is extremely important to keep the world informed about the factual developments taking place in the recent months. Bastrykin said that since 2014 over 216,000 people were questioned, over 91,000 people were recognized as victims, including 14,072 adolescents.
The situation at the line of engagement in Donbass escalated on February 17. The Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR) reported the most massive bombardments by the Ukrainian military in recent months, which damaged civilian infrastructure and caused civilian casualties.
On February 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced recognizing the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics. Russia signed agreements on friendship, cooperation and mutual assistance with their leaders. Russia recognized the Donbass republics in accordance with the DPR and LPR constitutions within the boundaries of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions as of the beginning of 2014.
Russian President Putin announced on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics for assistance he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in Ukraine. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, noting that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.
The DPR and the LPR launched an operation to liberate their territories under Kiev’s control.