ST. PETERSBURG, May 11. /TASS/. Russia possesses documentary evidence showing that Kiev was plotting to launch an attack on Donbass in March 2022 with the objective of reaching the Russian border, Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin said on Thursday.

Addressing a Constitutional Court conference held as part of the St. Petersburg International Legal Forum, he said, "Today, we can speak with utmost confidence about the existence of documentary evidence confirming that the Ukrainian warmongers were plotting to launch a special military operation in March 2022 against Donbass in which they planned to push all the way to the Russian border."

According to the top Russian law enforcement official, the Investigative Committee has classified the exploits of the Ukrainian warmongers as crimes against peace and humanity. "Together with our colleagues from other law enforcement agencies, we are investigating these crimes. Since 2014, we have initiated nearly 2,000 criminal cases," which implicate Ukrainian military officials, political leaders, rank-and-file military personnel, intelligence operatives and members of radical nationalist groups in the commission of various crimes, he said. As many as 716 suspects have been declared as wanted, he added.

Regional branches of the Investigative Committee have been established in Donbass and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, and the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office has established its own affiliates in the new regions, while the courts have also commenced their work there, Bastrykin said. "We have completed investigations stemming from more than 78 criminal cases, and the first verdicts have been handed down, including against foreign mercenaries," he concluded.