In Kherson region, occupants shot villagers

Civilians were shot in Kherson region. Drunken Russian soldiers broke into a couple's house and killed three people.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism.

On the night of September 17-18, 2025, drunken Russian soldiers broke into a private house in the village of Kozachi Lageri in the Oleshky urban community in the left-bank Kherson region. As a result, three people were killed: the spouses Tetiana and Viktor Hladki and their neighbor Viktor Nadeev.

According to media reports and local residents, the Russian military first demanded alcohol from the owners. The homeowners replied that they did not have any alcohol, after which the Russians shot them. A neighbor came running to hear the shots, and he was also killed.

According to another version, the drunken soldiers allegedly tried to rape Tatiana, while her husband and neighbor tried to protect her. Then the occupiers took all three people to the yard and shot them on the spot.

Local sources report that the attackers were drunk, and the crime occurred without any provocation from the victims.

Preliminarily, soldiers of the 11th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, awarded the Orders of Suvorov, Zhukov and Kutuzov, may be involved in this war crime. Information on specific perpetrators is currently being verified.

In September, Sergei Sinitsyn (call sign "Sabir"), a Russian FSB officer, was sentenced in absentia to life in prison for war crimes during the occupation of Kherson. Investigators found out that in March 2022, he arrived in the city as part of the temporary task force No. 8 to organize repressions against members of the Ukrainian resistance movement. During these operations, people were kidnapped and sent to torture chambers in local Ministry of Internal Affairs buildings, where they were beaten, tortured with electric shocks, mock executions, and their families were intimidated.

Russian General Vladimir Spiridonov was also sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, it was he who led the Russian Guard group that took part in the seizure of Kherson region, and after the occupation he organized a massive repression of local resistance. His subordinates forcibly dispersed peaceful protests, kidnapped activists and held them in torture chambers.

Анна Бальчінос