PGO Suspects 2 State Duma Members Of Financing DPR And LPR Militias

The Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) charged two members of the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, with financing militants of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People's Republic” (DPR) and “Luhansk People's Republic" (LPR).

The press service of the Prosecutor General's Office announced this in a statement, the Ukrainian News Agency reports.

According to the statement, prosecutors “filed notices of suspicion” of commission of a crime punishable under Section 3 of Article 258-5 of the Ukrainian Penal Code (financing terrorism) against two members of the State Duma on June 27, 2018.

The two members of the State Duma are suspected of calling on Russian citizens to raise funds for material support for the “Luhansk People's Republic" and the “Donetsk People's Republic” in the presence of the mass media in Moscow in the period of March-June 2014. They are also suspected of facilitating the opening of donation collection points in Russia, facilitating the placement of the relevant announcements on the websites of the Liberal Democratic Party, and providing premises in Moscow for use by the “Donetsk People's Republic.”

The two members of the State Duma face 10-12 years in prison if found guilty.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, the Prosecutor General's Office announced in August 2017 that State Duma member Vladimir Zhirinovsky was suspected of financing fighters with the “Luhansk People's Republic" and the “Donetsk People's Republic.”

Ukraine imposed sanctions on Zhirinovsky in October 2016.