Ukrainian battalion fighter to undergo mental checks in Russia - RIC
MOSCOW. Oct 1 (Interfax) - A member of the Ukrainian "Dnepr" battalion, Serhiy Lytvynov, is being moved from Rostov-on-Don to Moscow to undergo a psychological and psychiatric examination, Russian Investigative Committee (RIC) spokesman Vladimir Markin told Interfax.
"The examination is part of a criminal case over the killings of civilians in southeast Ukraine," Markin said.
"I would like to appease those straight away who will try to accuse us of bringing him in forcibly from another state: this man came over to Russia disguised as a civilian in order to get admitted into a hospital," Markin said.
"Lytvynov testified that he 'personally committed the killings of civilians who were not involved in the military conflict, including women and children who lived in the villages of Melovoye, Shirokyi, Makaraov and Kamyshnoye, relying solely on anonymous reports.' And, most interestingly, for committing the murders this fighter received a financial remuneration paid out by his bosses from the funds of Ihor Kolomoyskyi (the governor of the Dnipropetrovsk region)," the RIC spokesman said.
Advisor to Ukraine's Interior Minister Anton Herashchenko said that Lytvynov has never been a soldier of the Dniepr-1 volunteer battalion and the battalion itself did not accomlosh military missions in the Luhansk region.
"There has never been such a soldier in the Dniepr battalion [] The Dniepr-1 battalion has never accomplished any task on the territory of the Luhansk region. It acted in Western Donbass area: Kurakhovo, Maryinka, Krasnoarmeisk, Mariupol, Ilovaisk, but never on the territory of the Luhansk region," Herashchenko wrote on Facebook.
