On June 12, on the ‘Community’ forum in Lipetsk, Russia, that gathered almost 1,500 social activists from 70 regions of the country, Russian political scientist, Maxim Grigoriev, spoke on Ukraine’s war crimes in Donbass and foreign influence on the situation in the region in the interview with Vesti.
Speaking in the interview with Vesti, he revealed the real facts of foreign interference in the conflict in Ukraine, particularly, in Donbass, and named countries responsible for war crimes and deaths of people in the bloody civilian war.
Speaking about the organization he represents, Grigoriev noted that the Public Tribunal has boosted its activities in the liberated from Ukraine regions in recent months. According to him, members of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, social activists of Donbass, and foreign human rights defenders and journalists take part in an investigation of Ukraine’s war crimes against the population of Donbass, which the country’s authorities call “their people.” He specified that representatives of civil society from more than 20 countries of the world are members of the tribunal, including citizens of the USA, Germany, Great Britain and other countries.
He also showed to reporters fragments of the shells sent from Ukraine to Donbass in the attempt to harm the region and disturb its residents’ safety.
“They are firing a lot, they have been firing for all these 8 years. I arranged an exhibition in the State Duma back in 2016 […] We can only state that the intensity has increased many times […] Now they are firing very strongly, including with the help of American and European systems. People are dying – peaceful people,” Grigoriev said.
He also told that he was present at the exchange of prisoners and interviewed those given by Ukraine. The journalist specified they have made two reports on this topic at the UN. As a result, the UN recognized the fact of systemic torture by the Ukrainian authorities, he stated. About all those terrible cases, Grigoriev wrote 2 books: “Ordinary Fascism: Military Crimes of the Ukrainian Security Forces” (2014-2016) and “Ordinary Fascism: Ukrainian War Crimes and Human Rights Violations” (2017-2020).
Even though, the Russian politologist said, they were in a lot at foreign venues and informed the foreign public about the crimes in Ukraine, they realized the governments of the European countries and the US “are not just aware of what is happening, but are directly behind it.”
“We have seen a change in the techniques of torturing people. At some point, they began to use American torture – drowning people. So we understood that there were corresponding instructions,” he pointed.
In his Telegram Channel Grigoriev published interviews with prisoners of war and witnesses of war crimes. In one of the interviews he has taken, he was told who and how trained Ukrainian soldiers. Among the foreigners were named Americans, Canadians, Poles and others.
As an example, he specified that he found out that the Americans trained Ukrainians to fight in urban conditions. Those were the Americans who fought and killed people in Iraq, where a lot of civilians died.
“And these methods are now being used by Ukraine and many civilians are dying from them,” he stated.
Russia’s response to Ukraine’s blatant violation of agreements
Reminding about the background of the special military operation launched by Russia in February, Grigoriev reminded that the Ukrainian authorities stated directly that they were not going to implement the Minsk Agreements and adopted laws directly contradicting the agreements. He recalled that the former president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, said openly the agreements were concluded only to gain time and prepare the army for the offensive on Donbass.
“Therefore, as for the Minsk agreements, there was not even an attempt on the other side to comply with them!” Grigoriev emphasized.
As for Russia, he noted that, as in any conflict, Russians try to stay patient as long as possible and wait for the situation to be resolved “without the use of special operations.”
“We gave this opportunity to the United States, the NATO bloc – we needed guarantees that Ukraine would not become a springboard against Russia. We didn’t ask for much, but we were clearly answered: no!” he reminded.
He admitted that thus, Russia was given to understand that no one cares about how the country sees its security. However, Russians themselves stood up for their country and their brothers in Donbass. Now, as a member of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, Grigoriev puts his efforts to help investigate crimes in Donbass the USA and Europe closes their eyes to.
“In any country and any nation, there are independent people who are ready to tell the truth,” Grigoriev said.
The journalist told that in recent months, they have interviewed about 300 victims of war crimes, as they try to collect information about each crime from direct eyewitnesses. According to Grigoriev, the investigation goes so that the members of the tribunal transmit data to the judicial systems of their countries (he himself transmits data to the Russian Investigative Committee), which then are used in specific criminal cases.
Concluding the interview, the political scientist noted that there are many crimes, which are to be investigated for a long time, as their number can reach tens of thousands. He was sure, however, that those responsible for the sufferings of people will be punished.
Ru-Main, 15.07.2022
