Back in 2014, russia launched an operation to conceal their crimes on the territory of Ukraine. Since February, 2022, its attempts to transfer responsibility for the destroyed peaceful cities to Ukraine have become enormous, and the key tool in this regard is the Investigative Committee (IC) of the russian federation. The agency under the leadership of putin's classmate, Aleksandr Bastrykin, became a factory for the creation of an alternative reality, back in the time of russia's aggression against Georgia.
On the other hand, in Ukraine, the "St. Petersburg lawyer" received all the opportunities for the implementation of Orvelian stories. The investigative committee received a public and unlimited mandate to produce pseudo-evidence against Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale aggression, when putin announced a "tribunal against the Nazis". This week, the same Bastrykin man announced the creation of a so-called international tribunal for Ukraine. Systemic attempts by russians to falsify reality in the territories affected by their aggression are often perceived as a manifestation of propaganda activity, not more. However, in reality, Bastrykin's department faces much broader tasks, and their negative impact must not be underestimated.
How was the pseudo-evidence factory born?
At the beginning of russia's aggression, in 2014, the investigative committee announced the beginning of the collection of "evidence" about "crimes" of the Ukrainian military in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. During the many years of war, the agency periodically have reported about their "success stories". According to the official statements of the investigative committee, all this time its employees have been recording "cases of violations of the rules of war and shelling of civilian infrastructure in Donbas", for which the aggressor holds the Armed Forces of Ukraine solely responsible.
The russians claim to have interrogated 216,000 Ukrainian citizens on "cases" where they plan to accuse Ukrainian military and state officials. They "recognized" more than 90,000 people as those who have been affected. The figures cannot be verified but the russians definitely plan to use vulnerable people in the occupation for their own needs. Correct communication of the participation of its citizens in pseudo-courts is a challenge for Ukraine, especially when such facts become public, and russians try to "rock" the emotions of Ukrainians about the residents of the occupied territories.
Mariupol.After
Getty Images
The russians developed the strategy for concocting the pseudo-evidence base during the aggression against Georgia, when the latter's servicemen were accused of "genocide" of South Ossetian residents. At that time, russian statements aimed at diverting the attention of the civilized world from aggression against a sovereign state and "out-talking" the kremlin's violation of international law. Bastrykin's investigators even handed over their materials to the International Criminal Court, but immediately after the opening of the ICC's own investigation, they accused them of being biased.
The de facto authorities of South Ossetia refused to facilitate the investigation of the ICC, and later the russians and the South Ossetian administration "resented" the plans of ICC investigators to issue arrest warrants for local officials accused of crimes against Georgian civilians. Obviously, the russian federation has never intended to cooperate with international institutions on the war in Georgia but the profanity and distortion of the investigations yielded a political result.
The Western political elite (and truth be told, the then Ukrainian elites, too) actively discussed Saakashvili's "responsibility" for the escalation of the 2008 events. Much less was said about russia's armed invasion of Georgian territory. The accusations of the Georgian leadership of "genocide", albeit unproven, allowed the russians to counterattack in discussions on international platforms. They attracted the attention of the civilized world to russia's desire to shed blood for the imaginary crookedness of the past and their "territorial losses". After building this tunnel vision with russian "evidence" against Saakashvili, the civilized world missed putin's transition to militaristic plans for the restoration of the Soviet Union.
What the Investigative Committee of the russian federation does on the territory of Ukraine
Sparked by success in Georgia, the pseudo-evidence factory has shifted to Ukraine. During 2014–2022, the Investigative Committee of the russian federation slowly but steadily engaged in the magical transformation of the victim into an aggressor. After the start of the "special operation" of the kremlin against Ukraine, the role of this factory has dramatically increased. The Investigative Committee of russia is present in virtually all the occupied territories, old and new, and the head of the department personally visited Kherson. The activity of the investigative committee of the aggressor state has been synchronized with russian propaganda channels to produce the joint "projects". The Investigative Committee of the aggressor transfers its cases to the so-called prosecutor's offices of the "L/DPR", directly assuming responsibility for the prosecution of Ukrainian citizens by the occupation administrations.
Official website of the DPR"
According to the russians themselves, since 2014, the Investigative Committee of the russian federation has been conducting 1,400 "cases", where 400 representatives of the senior political and military leadership of Ukraine and its political figures have been "accused". The russians personally "accuse" 92 commanders of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations of Ukraine, and this is only the "tip" of pseudo-road investigations. In fact, it is a list of priority goals for putin's "tribunal" which the kremlin’s leader hoped to use to celebrate the seizure of Ukraine. It was on February, 24 that putin said that russia intended to “judge” their opponents in Ukraine — including the leaders of the Revolution of Dignity, which putin reiterated at the April meeting of russian prosecutors. From the statements of the russians themselves, it can be concluded that they not only planned a parade in Khreshchatyk (central square of the capital city), but also believed it feasible to put an end to the occupation of Ukraine at the "trial" over the "Kyiv regime."
The blitzkrieg of the aggressor failed, and putin had to postpone the planned large-scale "kangaroo court", which should have brought the closure to the rapid capture of Ukraine. However, the aggressor's plans have significantly expanded. Now it is not only current propaganda, demonstration of strength or desire for reprisals: by concocting "evidence" about the so-called "crimes" of Ukraine, russia seeks to perform more serious tasks. These include: creating quasi-legal conditions for the blackmail of Ukraine and its foreign partners with the fate of Ukrainian prisoners of war; intimidation of the population of the newly captured territories; falsification of events for russian "alternative" history and game on the international stage. The "cases" brought by the occupiers are becoming more and more numerous, and the geography of "investigations" is becoming increasingly more extensive.
Whereas putin's investigators had previously identified Ukraine's "crimes" only in the occupied territories, recently, they have shown a higher level of acumen — they are "investigating" the "self-firing" by Ukrainians in the free territories of Ukraine. To conceal the crimes of the russian army, the investigators have already shifted to remote "investigations". The same as the famous head of the russian CEC, Churov, used to record the "falsifications" in the US elections through "remote" observation, without leaving Moscow.
Why Russia Produces Pseudo Evidence
In Georgia, russia's investigative committee focused on shifting the emphasis on the international arena, turning the aggressor into a victim. In Ukraine, this approach no longer works — the whole world understands who and why started the bloody war. Instead, pseudo-evidence should explain to russian society who is responsible for the thousands civilian deaths in Mariupol and other cities. Despite the totalitarian nature of putin's regime, in the long run, even he will not be able to avoid the question of the tragedy of the russian-speaking cities of Ukraine ever happening. This response is already in the pipeline of the Bastrykin Committee, which plans to accuse the Armed Forces of Ukraine of destroying Mariupol.
The examination by russian investigators of all the destroyed houses in the city seized by the russians with barbaric military methods indicates not only the intention to falsely accuse the Ukrainian military of certain incidents. In russia, they plan to "condemn" Ukrainians for the entire tragedy of Mariupol. The occupiers have already reported on the "survey" of 2,400 sites, on conducting an "expert examination" of the destroyed 350 houses, and recorded 45 billion rubles of losses to the account of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in the Ukrainian city. The mood of reports of putin's subordinates leaves no doubt about their intentions to judge the citizens of Ukraine for the destruction of the Ukrainian city by the russian army.
Investigative Committee (Official channel of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation)/t.me
Blackmail with POWs
The russians started a big game around prisoners of war. It targets not only Ukraine but also other, foreign states. The so-called "investigations" of the Investigative Committee of the russian federation, except for political leaders and military commanders, are targeting against Ukrainian prisoners of war. Anyone can be convicted on the far-fetched "charges," even the janitor of the city council, for assisting in the "destruction" of Mariupol.
putin's investigators are checking servicemen for "involvement" in the cases they have brought in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. The materials for the prosecution are transferred to the so-called "L/DPR" law enforcement agencies, who have lifted the moratorium on the execution of death sentences. The so-called courts of occupation administrations have already sentenced to death three volunteers who have or previously had had foreign citizenship. Now these "cases" are on the so-called appeal stage, when the leaders of the occupation administrations demand that foreign countries contact them.
A separate track, ideological and blackmail-based, is the announced pseudo-verdicts against servicemen of the Azov Regiment and other defenders of Azovstal. The occupiers suppose the expected effect would consolidate the voters around the revenge over the enemy symbols. In addition, they also hope for the demoralization of Ukrainian society provoked by the inability to influence the fate of their defenders. Therefore, the political leaders of the state should already be thinking about how to respond to the russian campaign against the defenders of Azovstal, to help them and prevent destabilization within the country.
The signal from the russians is very simple to deduce. They want to force the civilized world to negotiate with them while threatening to execute the prisoners of war. The occupiers also are ardent to force the leaders of foreign states to enter into a dialogue with the russian-recognized "republics" where leaders directly threaten the death penalty to prisoners of war. In addition, the russians hope to bargain through the lives of POWs to ease sanctions. For them, prisoners of war are subjects of sale, and they do not even hide their own involvement in terrible threats, transferring their "materials" to the occupation administrations. For us, it is about the fate of our people and the daily suffering of their families.
Security sweep of newly-occupied areas
The visit of the Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the russian federation to Kherson to chair the meeting was surprising and seriously concerning. In the southern territories of Ukraine, there are no places of mass illegal detention of Ukrainian prisoners of war but the main "tracer" of the occupiers puts much focus on these regions. However, there is a simple answer to the question about the fixation of the IC of the russian federation on the newly captured territories. In addition to searching for "evidence" of "war" crimes, Bastrykin's profile also includes a so-called combat of extremism and terrorism, where he succeeded in the cases of russian opposition leaders.
After the meeting of the investigative committee in Kherson, we can clearly see two outstanding trends. First, the FSB of russia finds keeps finding more "saboteurs" and "extremists" in Kherson and Zaporizhia Oblasts. Secondly, the leaders of the occupation administrations threaten to deport people for "extremist" views. Voyages of the Investigative Committee of the russian federation in Kherson region are a sign of preparation for a large-scale “cleaning job” for those who disagree with the occupation and, therefore, it is a very bad signal for our compatriots.
Falsifications for «their own» history
It is difficult for a normal person to understand the plans of the russians. They attacked and destroyed Ukrainian cities but seek to blame Ukraine for it. However, one should not ridicule such aggressor's plans. putin needs no mentions in the russian history textbooks about his massive crimes against civilians in Mariupol, Popasna, and Severodonetsk. He thinks that the "tribunals" and "materials" produced by Bastrykin will help him enter into the russian interpretation of history other than the initiator of mass killings of civilians.
Some might say that the russians do not need explanations — they already support the crimes of their army on the territory of Ukraine. But it should be kept in mind that sooner or later the reek of the "special operation" will stop impacting the russians themselves. There will come increasingly more questions, especially during putin's stepping down from power, when there will be enough people willing to "uncrown" the cult of the current kremlin, even among the current supporters of the war against Ukraine and among radical nationalists.
Official “tribunals” and “verdicts” against Ukraine will allow putin and his entourage to cling to their version of a story. Since there are no real grounds for a rapid democratic transformation in the russian federation, the pseudo-evidence will allow the current kremlin team to "keep their face" in their country for a long time to come. "There is a court decision on who attacked Mariupol. And you don’t argue with court decisions," — this primitive scheme can benefit putin fixated on "historical issues" even after his withdrawal from power.
Discrediting international investigations
The large-scale activity of the Investigative Committee of the russian federation in Ukraine, in Kherson and in Mariupol, is also aimed at the future discrediting of genuine international mechanisms for the investigation of war crimes. For each war crimes investigation initiative, they will issue volumes of their own “investigations” and invest resources in promoting this “evidence” in Europe and the US. Pseudo-evidence of russia will not claim any sincere trust of civilized countries but it will create temptations for Western supporters of dialogue with russia to resume the old story about the "two sides" of the conflict and the need to study the evidence of all parties.
russia does not want to have others believe them. It needs to have the civilized world succumb to pressure from economic, financial, and energy challenges and find an excuse to make even the aggressor and the victim. In this case, it will come under the guise of the need to ensure a comprehensive investigation of the tragic events. When you hear russians say today that the drama theater in Mariupol was blown up from the inside, be ready to hear this version from the Western media, from the mouths of experts fattened from the pocket of the russian federation. The concept of "not everything is so unambiguous" is now key for external communications of the aggressor state, and the work of the Investigative Committee of the russian federation lays the foundation for it.
Falsification of evidence against Ukraine and threats to organize a "tribunal" over Ukrainian servicemen also means an increase in stake. The russian federation does not recognize the mechanisms of international investigations but not only. They also threaten to offer a master class for the authoritarian and totalitarian world showcasing how to create their own alternative institutions. If you don't like the International Criminal Court — have you own "tribunal" created. Finally, the head of the IC of the russian federation has already announced the creation of a "Ukrainian tribunal," with the possible involvement of Iran, Syria, and Bolivia.
However comical the russian efforts looked in detail, they still have a strategy for destroying civilized rules. russia is now at a stage where barbarism is perceived as an ability to demonstrate your force to the rest of the world.
Hoping to sit back at the same table with the civilized world
putin announced his intentions to return to the negotiation table with world leaders on his terms, hoping for the success of the war against Ukraine. He could never conceal that he wanted to grow to the level of influence of the American president. The fool is rich in his thoughts, but the kremlin leader needs the fake "versions" of war crimes to answer awkward questions during the international contacts he hopes to restore.
Again, russians do not expect trust for their "version" but they dream that it will be enough to "block" russia's war crimes and remove this problem from the agenda during negotiations. "You tell me about Butcha, and I tell you about 100 volumes of cases on Donbas from Bastrykin," — "St. Petersburg lawyers" already have a vision of their coexistence with the civilized world. They have already spun such a story with Georgia in 2008. Whether they succeed again, depends not only on them (fortunately) but also on the resilience and integrity of world leaders.
How to resist falsification in Ukraine
The answer to this question is very simple — to do your best to make a real international mechanism work to bring to justice the perpetrators of crimes against Ukraine. The Government of Ukraine is initiating the creation of an additional instrument — an international tribunal for the military and political leadership of russia. In addition to international institutions, one should not forget the need to do the high quality internal work.
Oleh Sinegubov/Telegram
According to Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Human Rights, Deoccupation and Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, Ruslan Horbenko, law enforcement agencies of Ukraine should be more effective in recording war crimes in the territories where active hostilities were just beginning. "It has been more than 90 days since they captured Mariupol. And they're now showing these trials to the world. And if we did this in Mariupol, as soon as they started destroying Volnovakha and bombing Mariupol, our law enforcement agencies would have recorded everything and would show it to the whole world. Then, the propaganda would not be taken for granted by internal users (citizens of the russian federation) but also in general, I think, that the armed forces of the russian federation would no longer believe this," Horbenko believes.
There are also doubts about the systematic approach of law enforcement officers with the testimonies of Ukrainian IDPs and refugees from the occupied territories. Investigations in the de-occupied territories, where Ukrainian law enforcement officers actively cooperate with foreign counterparts, are much more optimistic. Experts work in the liberated territories of Ukraine, including specialists in the collection of evidence for the International Criminal Court. French experts gathered facts and testimonies in Butcha. To document crimes, modern technologies are used to help preserve crime scenes. Ukraine's close cooperation with foreign partners and its openness to investigation offer hope for the efficient completion of investigations into the crimes committed by the russian military.
Hermann Krieger/Watchers
Counteracting russian lies is a long game. With twists and turns that may seem extremely unfair to us. With the possible betrayals and loss of integrity of individual partners. However, perseverance and systemic approach will help us win this fight.
Original article: zn.ua