Russian military to be tried for torturing woman in Mykolaiv region

During the occupation of the Snihuriv community, a Russian soldier, along with other occupants, kidnapped a 44-year-old woman. She was tortured to tell her where her son, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was.

According to the police of Mykolaiv region, the torturer was the chief of intelligence of the 2nd Howitzer Self-Propelled Artillery Division of the 205th Separate Motorized Rifle Cossack Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces.

"Together with other Russian soldiers, the suspect used physical and psychological violence against the woman. They humiliated her, threatened her with sexual violence, and created inadequate conditions of detention. All this was done to make the illegally detained woman tell about her son, a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the whereabouts of the Ukrainian military, participants of the ATO/JFO and territorial defense," the agency said in a statement.

In February, police investigators notified the occupier in absentia of suspicion of illegal detention and ill-treatment of civilians committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons, which is punishable by imprisonment for up to 12 years. Investigators have now completed the pre-trial investigation and forwarded the criminal proceedings to the prosecutor's office, which has sent the indictment to court for consideration on the merits.

Earlier, prosecutors of the Mykolaiv Regional Prosecutor's Office served a notice of suspicion to the commander of the 6th Air Assault Company of the 108th Guards Regiment of the Russian Armed Forces, who forced people to forced labor in the occupation of one of the villages of the Pervomaisk community and threatened one of the women with sexual violence.

The battalion commander of the 205th separate motorized rifle Cossack brigade of the Russian armed forces was also suspected. According to the investigation, in May 2022, during the temporary occupation of a village in the Bashtanka district, the suspect, together with other Russian military personnel, abducted a 52-year-old woman to obtain information from her about local men serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Олеся Ланцман