Case of Russian commander involved in killing of 17 civilians in Bucha sent to court

Investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine have completed a pre-trial investigation into a war crime committed during the occupation of the city of Bucha in March 2022. An indictment has been sent to the court against the platoon commander of the 2nd battalion-tactical group of the 234th airborne assault regiment of the 76th airborne assault division of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, stationed in the city of Pskov. This was reported by the National Police of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the unit under his command controlled certain areas of Bucha, patrolled Ivan Franko, Maksym Rydzanich and Naberezhna streets, and also conducted searches and checks of local residents. The commander knew for sure that he was dealing with civilians who did not participate in hostilities and did not pose any threat, but he gave his subordinates criminal orders for cruel treatment and murder.

It was established that Russian soldiers broke into private homes, drove people out into the street and shot them near their own homes. Some of the victims were tortured, and the bodies were burned to hide the traces of the crimes. In total, 17 civilians died – men, women and elderly people. As a result of these actions, local residents were unable to bury their relatives until the city was liberated from the occupiers.

During the investigative actions, large-scale work was carried out to document the crimes: inspections of the crime scenes, interrogations of witnesses and victims, forensic medical examinations, investigative experiments. During the exhumations, bullets were seized that were identified as ammunition from weapons that were in service with the 234th Airborne Assault Regiment.

The identity of the commander who gave the orders to shoot civilians was established thanks to the collected evidence, as well as information provided by the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

The accused, a 28-year-old native of the Moscow region, is charged with violating the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder (Parts 1, 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The crimes were documented by investigators of the Main Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine in cooperation with a special investigative and operational group and under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General’s Office.