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Ukraine opens criminal cases against more than 100 foreigners for fighting in Donbass

Earlier, Ukraine's Prosecutor General’s Office launched cases against more than 30 citizens of different states for fighting against Kiev in Donbass

KIEV, August 7. /TASS/. The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has launched criminal proceedings against citizens of Italy, Spain, Germany and other states for taking part in the Donbass conflict on the side of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics allegedly as part of Russian armed units, the office’s press service announced Friday.

"The Prosecutor General’s Office registered criminal proceedings against more than 100 foreigners who joined Russian illegal armed units to take part in the armed conflict against Ukraine," the press service informed. At the same time, it is clarified that the cases are launched on the grounds of "mercenaries participating in the armed conflict, intentional actions aimed at changing Ukraine’s territorial or state borders in violation of the order set by the Ukrainian constitution as well as joining illegal armed units to attack factories, agencies, organizations or citizens which resulted in deaths of people or other severe consequences." The maximum punishment for the specified crimes can be life-sentence with confiscation of all properties.

The office specified that the cases were launched against two Bulgarians, seven Armenians, one Georgian, 19 Italians, 27 Spaniards, 12 Kazakhs, three Lithuanians, 26 Moldovans, two Dutch and five Germans.

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Earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office already launched cases against more than 30 citizens of different states for fighting against Kiev in Donbass.

Mass protests broke out in eastern Ukraine, mostly populated by Russian-speaking citizens, following a coup d’etat in Ukraine in February 2014 and President Viktor Yanukovich’s ouster. In mid-April of the same year, Kiev’s authorities launched a military operation in Donbass in response. Heavy shelling of residential areas, including the use of aviation, caused large-scale humanitarian disaster in the region. At the same time, Kiev accuses Moscow of interfering in the conflict to support Donbass. The Russian side has repeatedly underlined that it is not a party to the domestic Ukrainian conflict and is consistently backing full and strict implementation of the Minsk Agreements which it signed as a mediator in the peaceful settlement process.

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