An information message to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was prepared and sent on the basis of Article 15 of the Rome Statute by the lawyers of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union together with prosecutors of the Department of Oversight in Criminal Proceedings of Crimes Committed in the Conditions of Armed Conflict.

"The essence of the message consists of the facts of extrajudicial executions of nine servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by representatives of the pro-Russian organized group 'Cossack Union 'Don Army Region' during the battles for Ilovaisk in 2014 and Debaltseve in 2015. The report will be examined by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court along with other episodes of serious violations of international humanitarian law committed by pro-Russian forces in the east of Ukraine during the period of 2014-2019," the Public Relations and Media Department of the Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) said on Thursday.

According to the information, Ukraine provided photo and video evidence that directly points to the fact that the Ukrainian military was captured, testimony of eyewitnesses to the killings of prisoners, documents confirming the death of the military personnel in captivity.

The report also highlights the practice of conducting warfare by "proxies," that is, involving the Russian Federation in the conflict of illegal armed groups controlled by it. The ICC prosecutor's office was informed that the illegal armed groups mentioned could be used by Russia not only to achieve military superiority, but also to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law.

The PGO continues to collect evidence of the Russian Federation conducting an aggressive war against Ukraine, committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in order to ensure the inevitability of punishment.

The PGO recalled that during this time they sent five messages to the ICC about events in Donbas. In particular, they concerned responsibility for the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity by the leaders of the so-called "DPR" Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Alexander Zakharchenko, Igor Bezler and others.