Prosecutor: Ukrainian soldiers confess to murdering civilians

Publisher Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
Publication Date 17 June 2015
Cite as Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prosecutor: Ukrainian soldiers confess to murdering civilians, 17 June 2015, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/55b5f3d515.html [accessed 17 September 2023]
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June 17, 2015

The prosecutor's office for the Kyiv-controlled part of Ukraine's Donetsk region says two Ukrainian servicemen have confessed to murdering a mother and daughter after suspecting them of separatist sympathies.

A statement from the prosecutor's office said a 77-year-old woman and her 45-year-old daughter died of gunshot wounds to the head after the soldiers entered their house in the village of Luhanske on June 15 and fired automatic weapons

"Two Ukrainian soldiers, who are 23 and 25 years old, have been detained. They have confessed to the murder," it said, without giving further details.

Luhanske is in government hands but lies close to the front line with rebel forces.

Since April last year, Ukrainian forces have been battling a pro-Russian rebellion in the east of the country.

The United Nations estimates that the war in Ukraine has claimed at least 6,454 lives since it broke out last April.

A cease-fire was signed in February, but fighting has continued sporadically.

Based on reports by Reuters and AP

Link to original story on RFE/RL website

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