Russian soldier sentenced for torture in occupied village in Mykolaiv region

In 2022, Russian military officer Dmitry Shugankov tortured a woman in the temporarily occupied Snihuriv community of Mykolaiv region. The court sentenced him in absentia to 10 years in prison for violating the laws and customs of war.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism.

<span>According to the investigation, on September 5, 2022, Shugankov, together with Russian Alikhan Kushkhov and other soldiers, detained a resident of the village of Tamarino on the street. They demanded that she admit that her son served in the Armed Forces, threatened to take the woman to the forest and shoot her. When she did not respond, the occupants locked her in a garage, beat her with their fists and rifle butts, fired at her feet and threatened to kill her.</span>

Shugankov, Kushkhov and other Russians laughed and threatened the woman with group violence. After several hours of interrogation, she was released home, but the occupiers continued to interrogate her son and other family members. Subsequently, the woman was forced to leave her home and move to another village.

The victim, her daughter, brother and his wife testified in court. The investigation identified the occupier: Dmitry Valerievich Shugankov, born on September 1, 1990, a native of the village of Uspenskoye, Krasnodar Territory, Russia, senior lieutenant, chief of intelligence of the 2nd Howitzer Self-Propelled Artillery Division of the 205th Separate Brigade of the Russian Federation. His call sign is "Shuga".

During the occupation of the Snihuriv community from March 20 to November 10, 2022, he conducted so-called "filtration measures" and illegal searches.

The court found Shugankov guilty under Article 438, paragraph 1, of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced him to 10 years in prison in absentia.

According to media reports, he has a medal "Participant of the Counterterrorist Operation in the Caucasus" and fought in Ingushetia. His brother Roman Shugankov is also involved in the war against Ukraine and has a medal "For the Return of Crimea". During lessons in schools in Krasnodar Krai, students in grades 5-11 were taught to be proud of Shugankov's so-called "exploits". In July 2023, Dmytro Shugankov was fighting in Zaporizhzhia region, and Russian volunteers delivered a generator to his unit.

Also, the commander of a Russian artillery platoon was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the abduction and torture of civilians on the Kinburn Peninsula. The victims were a man and a woman who were forcibly taken to the occupied Kherson region and held in inhumane conditions.

Анна Бальчінос