MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) — Moscow expects Sweden to clarify the information about its citizens' participation in crimes committed in southeastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry’s Special Representative for Human Rights, Democracy and the Rule of Law Konstantin Dolgov said on Friday.
"We expect drastic actions from Stockholm on the verification of the involvement of Swedish citizens in crimes in [southeastern] Ukraine," Dolgov wrote on his Twitter.
Dolgov said he was specifically referring to a "volunteer" with Ukraine's National Army, Mikael Skillt.
"He is known for his right-wing extremist and racist views," Dolgov said, adding that Moscow "counts on adequate punishment" for this and other Swedish citizens who may have taken part in fighting in Ukraine.
Dolgov earlier met with Björn Fagerberg, a deputy head of the mission at the Embassy of Sweden in Moscow and former ambassador to Ukraine during the Orange revolution.
Former construction worker, Skillt, 37, went to Ukraine in March, weeks after the overthrow of the government and ouster of then president, Viktor Yanukovych. In an interview with the Swedish right-wing online magazine Fria Tider, he said he was joining nationalists who "died on the streets of Kiev, and I was able to help them." According to the magazine, Skillt had been involved in various Swedish nationalist groups for more than a decade.
After Crimea rejoined Russia in March, Kiev launched a special operation to suppress the independence movement in southeastern Ukraine. The fighting intensified after the Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared independence from Ukrainian government in May.
According to the latest UN report, the conflict has claimed the lives of 1,129 civilians since mid-April, with another 3,442 injured.
