Russia's Investigative Committee brings charges against former senior Ukrainian officials

Russia's Investigative Committee (IC) has brought charges against Volodymyr Hroisman, former speaker of Ukraine's parliament, Pavlo Klimkin, former foreign minister, and Yurii Stets, former minister of information policy.  Source: Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne, citing the indictment by the Russian IC Details: The IC report mentions a meeting held in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol, during which it was announced that charges had been brought against Hroisman, Klimkin and Stets for alleged "crimes against peace and security of mankind".

Russian "investigators" accuse the former Ukrainian officials of having supported the decision to launch the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in Donbas as members of the National Security and Defence Council of Ukraine (NSDC).

Background:

• In the spring of 2014, following the appearance of masked Russian soldiers who wore unmarked uniforms in Donbas and their seizure of a number of government buildings in different cities, the NSDC launched a large-scale anti-terrorist operation involving the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
• In March 2018, the format of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) was changed to the Joint Forces Operation (JFO).

  Serhii Naiev was appointed as the Joint Forces Commander, responsible for commanding the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations and law enforcement agencies engaged in the ATO.

For reference: The ATO or Anti-Terrorist Operation is a term used from 2014 to 2018 by the media, the government of Ukraine and the OSCE to identify combat actions against Russian military forces and pro-Russian separatists in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

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