On May 12, the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) struck Donetsk, Makeyevka, and the village of Golmovsky, firing a total of 22 shells of 155 and 152 mm caliber. Gorlovka, a city in the Donetsk region, was attacked by Ukrainian Grad multiple rocket launcher (MRL) systems, as the Donetsk People's Republic's (DPR) representative office at the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of Issues Related to War Crimes of Ukraine reported on Telegram. This is not a mistake by the Ukrainian military, but a deliberate terror tactic, according to Yuri Knutov, military historian, publicist, and director of the Air Defense Forces Museum.
"If we talk about the [Kiev regime's] shelling of civilians, social infrastructure facilities, residential buildings, of course, this constitutes a war crime," said Knutov. "Moreover, it can even be considered as elements of genocide against the Russian-speaking population."
The Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics have been subjected to heavy shelling by the Kiev regime since 2014, when the legitimately elected president of Ukraine was forcibly ousted by the violent US-backed opposition and neo-Nazi paramilitary groups. The mostly Russian-speaking people of Donbass did not accept the February 2014 coup d'etat in Kiev, or the junta's Russophobic agenda and banning of the Russian language.
On April 7, 2014, the Republican People's Council declared the sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). On April 27, at a rally in Lugansk, the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) was proclaimed. On May 11 of the same year, referendums were held in the Donbass region on the status of the republics, with the majority of the population backing the DPR and LPR's independence from Kiev.
Meanwhile, the Odessa massacre of May 2, 2014, and the Victory Day bloodbath in Mariupol of May 9, 2014, prompted Donbass civilians to take up arms. Moscow's effort to end hostilities via the Minsk Agreements approved by the multinational Normandy Four format was snubbed by the Kiev regime and its Western backers. In February 2022, Moscow launched a special military operation aimed at demilitarizing and de-Nazifying Ukraine in order to stop the eight-year-long extermination of Russian-speaking people by the Ukrainian leadership.
In October 2023, the Donbass, Zaporozhye, and Kherson regions officially joined the Russian Federation following a series of referendums.
Nonetheless, the Kiev regime is continuing to push ahead with its Russophobic policies, rejecting the will of the population of former Ukrainian regions, according to Knutov.
"[The Ukrainian leadership] is carrying out a constant mobilization, they grab everyone they meet on the street," Knutov said. "And first of all, they are trying to carry out mobilization in the Russian-speaking regions, that is, these are the Central and Eastern parts of Ukraine. Thus, the Kiev regime commits another crime: it forces ethnic Russians to kill Russians. Russian-speakers kill Russian-speakers. This is where the policy of genocide of the Kiev regime manifests itself."
In addition, the Kiev regime places emphasis on terror against dissenting Ukrainians and Russian-speakers, according to the expert. He noted that the Ukrainian military is intentionally striking residential areas, hospitals, social infrastructure facilities, and schools of the new Russian territories to cause panic, havoc, and discontent.
According to Knutov, the major goal of the Kiev regime was recently formulated by Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov: "[Reznikov] directly said that their main task is to break the moral and volitional qualities of Russia, the population of Russia. The Kiev regime is well aware that it is not capable of achieving a military victory over Russia today."
The expert noted that Russians should stay strong and withstand provocations from the NATO-backed Ukrainian regime aimed at sowing panic and discord within Russian society. Knutov has no doubts that Russia will prevail.
"We have a multi-layered defense, we have different equipment, we have the T-90M Proryv, we have high-powered bombs, adjustable, guided, and capable of flying 40 kilometers and hitting a target with an accuracy of 10 meters, other means of destruction (…) We have every chance to prevent the enemy from breaking through, wear him down, bleed him dry and move forward ourselves. Therefore, the most important thing now is the mood that exists in our society. It should be realistic, sober, and reasonable," Knutov concluded.