A commander and his deputy from the Russian Armed Forces have been convicted of torturing a Ukrainian man in the Mykolaiv region

A court has sentenced two Russian soldiers who illegally detained and tortured a civilian during the occupation of the Bashtanka District. They were sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison.

This was reported by the Mykolaiv Regional Police.

According to the investigation, at the time of the crime, the convicted men served as the commander and deputy commander of the first motorized rifle company of the Russian Federation’s 205th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade.

Law enforcement officials determined that during the occupation of villages in the Snigurivka community of the Bashtanka District, Russian soldiers unlawfully detained a resident of the village of Yevhenivka. They accused the man of allegedly beating a neighbor and decided to “punish” him on their own.

According to the case file, the victim was handcuffed to a metal pole, where he spent a day without food or water. During this time, the occupiers beat him on the torso with a stick and deliberately tightened his handcuffs.

Two Russian servicemen were identified by investigators from the Mykolaiv Regional Police’s War Crimes Investigation Department, in collaboration with the cyber police and under the procedural guidance of the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

In February of last year, they were notified in absentia of charges under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—unlawful detention and cruel treatment of the civilian population. After the investigation was completed, the indictment was sent to court.

The court found both Russian servicemen guilty. The commander was sentenced to 12 years in prison, and his deputy to 11 years. The verdict has not yet become final.

Earlier, prosecutors from the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor’sOffice had notifiedthe commander of the 6th Airborne Assault Company of the 108th Guards Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces, who forced people in the occupied villages of the Pervomaiska communityinto forced labor and threatened one of the women with sexual violence.

The commander of a battalionof the 205thSeparate Motorized Rifle Cossack Brigade ofthe Russian Armed Forces was also charged. 

Ірина Глухова