OREANDA-NEWS Russia hopes to participate in an international tribunal for Ukrainian crimes in Donbas, said the director of the second department of the CIS countries of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Aleksey Polishchuk, RIA Novosti reported.

The diplomat believes that such a tribunal is necessary. In his opinion, war crimes by Ukrainian nationalists against the inhabitants of Donbass, committed since 2014, should not remain unpunished.

Polishchuk noted that Russian competent structures and the Donbass republics have already started investigating crimes by Ukrainian armed formations.

It is noted that the Investigative Committee of Russia has opened more than a thousand cases on crimes against civilians of Donbass and against Russian servicemen during the special military operation.

Earlier, the head of the committee for criminal and administrative legislation of the People's Council of the Donetsk people's republic, Olena Shishkina, said that the death penalty might be abolished in the LNR after the trial of war criminals.