MOSCOW. Nov 1 (Interfax) - Russian Investigative Committee head Alexander Bastrykin has ordered the opening of a criminal case over attacks on the territory of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Investigative Committee spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko told reporters on Sunday.
"As information about crimes committed against residents of the Donetsk People's Republic was confirmed, the Russian Investigative Committee chairman tasked the Main Investigative Department with immediately opening a criminal case under Article 356 of the Russian Criminal Code (the use of forbidden means and methods of war), as well as with taking measures to identify the persons behind those attacks and to organize a manhunt so that they are brought to justice," Petrenko said.
"Mass media said today that the Ukrainian armed forces continued to shell the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic. The gunfire of Ukrainian servicemen has cut power supply to four populated localities in the Telmanove district," she said.
It was reported on Saturday that the Russian Investigative Committee was checking information about almost 40 Russian citizens held prisoner by Ukrainian servicemen in the village of Staromarivka in the "gray zone" on the Donbas contact line.
Mass media said on October 26 that Ukrainian servicemen took control of Staromarivka in the "gray zone" in Donbas but Kyiv denied the reports.