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The State Investigation Bureau has opened a criminal probe over a social media video in which journalist Yuriy Butusov is seen firing a 152mm artillery piece.
The bureau wants to check whether Butusov was “mishandling weapons and endangering others” as well as “planning, preparing, launching and waging war,” according to the bureau’s statement published on Nov. 29. Whoever allowed Butusov, a civilian, to fire the weapon will also be investigated, the bureau said.
Butusov, the chief editor of the Censor.net media outlet, believes the investigation was opened in retaliation for his heated argument with President Volodymyr Zelensky at a press conference on Nov. 26.
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