Odesa prosecutors send to court case on suspicion of Russian military in torture of village council head

Prosecutors of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office have sent to court an indictment against a Russian serviceman on the fact of violation of the laws and customs of war.

According to the press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the investigation established that from the beginning of the occupation of Kherson region, a serviceman of one of the units of the Russian armed forces was appointed the so-called "commandant - chief of the garrison" stationed in the village of Lazurne.

The pseudo-commandant was in charge of the settlements of Lazurne, Prymorske, Kruhloozerka, Zaliznyi Port and the territory of the Black Sea Biosphere Reserve.

He personally, as well as by providing instructions and orders, participated in the detention and torture of local residents with a pro-Ukrainian position, and illegally seized real estate.

The accused, together with his accomplices, Russian military, detained the head of one of the village councils of Skadovsk district. He was kept in the basement of a boarding house, where he was systematically beaten, threatened with death and shot over his head, imitating an execution.

The man was demanded to provide information about pro-Ukrainian activists and local residents, and was persuaded to cooperate.

Other Russian military personnel involved in these crimes are currently being identified.

The special pre-trial investigation was conducted by investigators of the SBU Office in Odesa region.

The Oleshky District Prosecutor' s Office of Kherson region also sent to court an indictment against two residents of the Stanislavske territorial community on the fact of collaboration.

Also, under the procedural supervision of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office, a staff member of the Russian Federal Security Service was served in absentia with a notice of suspicion of ordering cruel treatment of civilians and committing other violations of the laws and customs of war, by prior conspiracy by a group of persons.

It is also known that under the procedural control of the Pervomaisk District Prosecutor's Office, a 56-year-old resident of Stanislavchyk village, Pervomaisk district, was served a notice of suspicion on the fact of disseminating materials containing glorification of persons carrying out Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine (part 2 of Article 436-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Кирило Бойко