Courts in the Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republic have meted out long prison terms to more than 30 Kiev army servicemen for war crimes including murders of civilians, said Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee (SK) Alexander Bastrykin.   “Ninety criminal cases were sent to courts. DPR and LRP courts, on the strength of gathered evidence, have passed guilty verdicts on more than 30 defendants meting out long prison terms; some have received life sentences,” Bastrykin said in an interview with TASS.   Many Ukrainian nationalists turned themselves in after Mariupol and other settlements had been liberated. “Our further work was focused on determining their implication in crimes against peace and human safety, as well as in murders of civilian population,” he said.   Just a few people had been punished for crimes against civilians before the accession of the new regions to Russia and the establishment of territorial investigation bodies. “As you now see, we’re realizing the principle of inevitability of punishment and will continue these efforts,” the SK chairman said.   As of late April, courts in the new Russian regions had sentenced 11 Kiev army servicemen for murders of civilians and other crimes.   ***   The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014.  The peace talks failed to reach tangible results due to Kiev’s position to settle the conflict by force.   President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation on February 24, 2022 to protect Donbass residents from Ukrainian aggression. Prior to that, LPR and DPR Heads Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin asked the Russian leader to provide military assistance.*i   The Lugansk People’s Republic, Donetsk People’s Republic and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions acceded to Russia on September 30, 2022 following the unification referenda.*i*v