The fifth paragraph of the Minsk agreements provides for pardon and amnesty by enacting a law prohibiting the prosecution and punishment of persons in connection with the events in Donbass. The Ukrainian side, when signing these agreements, assumed obligations and gave certain guarantees for their implementation. In this regard, the statements by officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine contradict the Package of Measures and are contrary to the agreements reached earlier. In addition, the adoption of legislative acts related to the conflict must be coordinated with representatives of the Republics, however, the law introduced in 2014 prohibiting the prosecution and punishment of persons involved in the conflict in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions was not coordinated with us. This law has no legal force, which once again proves that the statements by the Ukrainian authorities are ill-founded.
I would like to note that Ukraine had the political will to adopt the Law “On the Prohibition of the Prosecution and Punishment of Persons Participating in the Events on the Maidan”. According to the above law, persons who committed serious and grave crimes, including those calling for the overthrow of the government, were discharged from liability. This law entered into force in the territory of Ukraine, which allowed people to get away with organizing a coup d’état in 2014. This once again proves a biased attitude towards our residents, who have been defending their land and fighting for their rights for five years, and deepens the split between Donbass and Ukraine.
