MOSCOW, July 8. /TASS/. East Ukraine’s self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Luhansk are pushing for a UN-backed international tribunal to investigate crimes against humanity in the war-torn Donbas region.

"The Donetsk People’s Republic and the Luhansk People’s Republic appealed to the UN Security Council to establish an international tribunal to prosecute those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law and crimes against humanity in Ukraine," the heads of the two eastern republics, Alexander Zakharchenko and Igor Plotnitsky, told a news conference on Wednesday.

They said they had asked the leaders of Russia, the United States, China, Britain and France to consider the issue at the next UN Security Council session.

"We look forward to receiving a prompt reply to this proposal," Luhansk’s leader Plotnitsky said.

Zakharchenko, leader of the Donetsk republic, noted that "Kiev’s punitive operation in Donbas is a direct violation of the Geneva Convention". He said the self-proclaimed republics had gathered a mountain of evidence of Kiev’s war crimes, adding that since the start of this year alone, over 1,200 civilians had been killed, including 25 children.

The two leaders estimated the total number of people killed in the region since the start of the conflict at 3,684, including 522 women and 65 children.