Thursday, December 16, 2021
Moscow denies immediately
Court reveals Kremlin troops in Donbass
The presence of Russian units in eastern Ukraine is an open secret. Now there is an official confirmation of this – albeit unintentionally. A court in the Russian city of Rostov indirectly confirms the presence of Moscow soldiers in a corruption trial. The Kremlin responded immediately.
To the annoyance of the Kremlin in Moscow, a court ruled that Russian soldiers were present in the Ukrainian separatist territory. The court in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don wrote in the text of “conscripts of the Russian Federation who are on standby in the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republic”. This is remarkable because Russia officially does not admit the stationing of soldiers in Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov promptly spoke of a “mistake by those who wrote the text”. It could only be a mistake, “because that is not possible. There are absolutely no armed forces of the Russian Federation in the territory of the self-appointed republics.”
Independent media have reported for years that Russian soldiers are on duty there. The Kremlin-critical newspaper “Novaya Gazeta” had also shown pictures of coffins in the past – with corpses that had been transported to Russia.
The Rostov judgment concerned a corruption case and supplies of provisions to the regions. “This food was intended for the garrisons of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, which are stationed on the territory of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics,” said judge Leonard Sholokhov’s text.
According to the Interfax agency, Kremlin spokesman Peskov emphasized that humanitarian aid supplies were constantly being delivered to the regions. “You know that,” said Peskov in front of journalists. For years Moscow has rejected all allegations about Russian troops in Donbass.
Ukraine has long viewed the pro-Russian insurgent units as part of the Russian army. Ukrainian government troops have been fighting the Russian-backed rebels since 2014. According to UN estimates, more than 13,000 people have already been killed. A peace plan agreed in 2015 is on hold.