A special pre-trial investigation was initiated against the suspects. About this on February 27, the press center of the department report.
The actions of these persons are qualified under Part 3 of Art. 258 (terrorist act), part 1 of Art. 438 (violation of laws and customs of war), Part 1 of Art. 258-3 (creation of a terrorist group or terrorist organization), Part 2 of Art. 437 (planning, preparation, unleashing and waging an aggressive war) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The pre-trial investigation continues.
Recall, January 24, 2015, in Mariupol a series of artillery shelling of Ukrainian positions and residential quarters happened. In particular, artillery shelling of the Vostochny neighborhood of Ordzhonikidze district was carried out, as a result of which 30 people were killed, 119 injured in various degrees of severity, and residential and non-residential buildings, as well as the “Kyiv” and “Denis” markets, were damaged.
The prosecutor's office of the Donetsk region qualified the bombardment of Mariupol as a terrorist act.
The OSCE special monitoring mission promptly went to the site of the tragedy and established that the bombing of the Vostochny neighborhood was made precisely by the terrorists of the “DNR”.
According to the SSU (Security Service of Ukraine) chairman Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, the attack was carried out by the artillery division of the terrorist organization “DNR”, consisting of 4 artillery batteries armed with the «Tulip» self-propelled gun and Grad installations.
The fire was opened by the order of an officer of the Russian Federation with the call sign "Gorec". After the shelling, artillery batteries were hidden in the village of Markino, and then the surviving Russian military and equipment on a command from the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation to conceal the crimes were withdrawn to the territory of Russia with the assistance of the Russian FSS border service.
During the planning and bombardment of Mariupol, ultra-modern satellite systems of the 5th generation "Belozer" were used, which are available only in the Russian Federation.
The detained by the SSU artillery spotter, Kirsanov, 1975, nicknamed "Gaishnik", said that an attack on Mariupol was carried out by a Russian artillery battery under the command of a Russian officer with the call sign "Pepel".
Other members of the criminal group were identified. Among them - a citizen of Ukraine Ponomarenko, 1977, nicknamed "Terrorist" - the leader of one of the gangs of the so-called "the army of Novorossia," known in criminal circles as a recidivist.
Counterintelligence of the SSU intercepted the conversations, which testify that the "Terrorist" appealed to the "Pepel" militant with a request to fire with the use of rocket artillery. After the decision by the Russians and the implementation of the crime, the corrector Kirsanov reported the results of the damage inflicted to the Russian officer and then to Ponomarenko in Donetsk.
On January 16, 2017, Ukraine sued the UN International Court of Justice in order to bring the Russian Federation to justice for acts of terrorism and discrimination during its illegal aggression against Ukraine. Among the listed terrorist attacks, the bombardment of Mariupol was also named.