Int’l bodies urged to join Ukraine probe

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called on international bodies to become involved in an investigation into war crimes committed in Ukraine.

Lavrov made the remarks after meeting with his Finnish counterpart, Erkki Tuomioja, in Russia’s capital city of Moscow on Monday, arguing that the Ukrainian government’s probe has failed to bear results.

“Judging by the fact that no progress was made in investigating these incidents, it is possibly time for international organizations, such as the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe), the Council of Europe and the United Nations…to take the responsibility of ensuring an unbiased and fair investigation,” he said.

The inquiry should investigate events in the Ukrainian cities of Odessa and Mariupol, the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, and mass graves recently found near Donetsk, the top Russian diplomat added.

Ukraine’s mainly Russian-speaking regions in the east have witnessed deadly clashes between pro-Moscow activists and the Ukrainian army since Kiev launched military operations to silence pro-Russians in mid-April. More than 3,000 people have reportedly been killed in the conflict.

On May 2, at least 48 people were killed and 247 wounded in the clashes between pro-Moscow and pro-Kiev demonstrators in Odessa and a fire in the southern Ukrainian port city’s trade union building.

One week later on May 9, at least 20 protesters and an army officer were killed and more than two dozen others sustained injuries during the Ukrainian army’s military operation in Ukraine’s southeastern city of Mariupol.

The Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was also shot down over Ukraine’s volatile eastern region of Donetsk on July 17, when it was flying from the Dutch city of Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing the 298 passengers and crew on board.

Two months later in September, representatives of the Donetsk People’s Republic discovered three mass graves near the city of Donetsk.

SSM/HMV/SS