Aug. 1, 2023, 5:32 p.m.
(Photo: The State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SES), July 1, 2022)
In the night of June 30 to July 1, 2022, Russian troops shelled Serhiivka – a small resort village on the Black Sea coast. Three X-22 missiles covered the distance from the launch sites to the target in just a few minutes. As a result – the recreational base "Hodzhi" was completely destroyed, and a nine-story residential building suffered significant damage. And worst of all – dozens of dead and injured civilians.
The Center for Public Investigations found out who was behind the crime of the Russian military.
Although after every shelling the Russian authorities keep assuring that they target and hit only military facilities, only civilians fell their victims in the town of Serhiivka. A year after the tragedy, we found those who were in the resort town during the shelling.
Oleksii and Diana are a couple of students who came for two days to the recreational base in Serhiivka with their friends. They say that they carefully chose the location because, at that time, other resort towns located near military and infrastructure facilities had already been bombed more than once. They opted for the Hodzhi recreation base.
Diana vividly recalls that even during the air raid alert, no one had the foresight to consider Serhiivka, the resort town, as a potential target for shelling. "Serhiivka is a place with zero checkpoints, absolutely nothing. Sure, there's a curfew, but who knows if anyone bothers checking it in these small towns... Then the air raid alert went off, and we were all still together. The siren, as usual, lasted five minutes, and afterwards, we retreated to our rooms. Looking back, sure, we could have headed to the hallway; there would have been less debris. But who could have predicted the outcome at that moment? No one thought anything could penetrate this place. Silently, abruptly, just a constant ringing in the ears, TNT in the air, uncertainty about everyone's survival. The initial reaction is disbelief – it can't be happening. You're left questioning the intactness of your limbs. I thought we were buried under the rubble because a window frame crashed onto my face."
Oleksii wanted to join the territorial defence forces right from the start of the full-scale war. Unfortunately, he was denied the opportunity due to being a student. After completing his studies in the summer, he intended to make another attempt to join the ranks of the defenders. However, Russian missiles shattered these plans completely, altering the lives of these young people forever. A year after the tragedy, the couple has undergone 150 operations, with several more still on the horizon. Doctors have extracted nails, glass, and debris from the bodies of these young individuals.
"We were in our rooms. I felt and saw the light, as if it were daytime. I sensed that something was going horribly wrong. I instinctively moved towards Diana, but, as you can see, it didn't make any difference. Then the explosion occurred, and the shockwave obliterated everything – glass, rocks. In our room, it blew away the wall where Diana was... After the explosion, I regained consciousness. I opened my eyes and desperately tried to speak: 'Diana, Diana...' because I knew I was alive. But I had no idea about Diana. I heard her, and then everything went silent. I began a basic examination of my body and realised I was covered in cuts, blood... My arms were intact; one leg was in place, but the other was not. It lay beside me. I started crawling towards the exit," this is how Oleksii recounts the moment of the shelling.
Missiles targeted Serhiivka, each carrying nearly a ton of explosives. Two hits struck the recreation base, and one hit the residential building. The outcome was devastating – 22 people lost their lives, and 39 were injured.
We spoke with the resident of the apartment building, Ihor Levchenko, who was at home during the missile attack:
"I resided on the seventh floor of this building. I arrived home around eleven o'clock, went through my routine of eating, washing up, lying down, and turning on the TV. At approximately 12:25, the first explosion shook everything. The living room window blew out instantly from the impact of the initial blast. Without wasting a moment, I grabbed my belongings and rushed to the bomb shelter. While descending the stairs, another explosion occurred. By the time I reached the bomb shelter, the third explosion erupted, targeting a building materials store nearby. I could feel the shockwave even within the bomb shelter, but fortunately, it held up."
Ihor recalls that there were only a few minutes between the explosions, leaving no time for others to reach the bomb shelter. After the missiles struck, Ihor took the initiative to assist the building's residents: "Neighbors from the eighth and ninth floors hurried down. Everyone was in a state of panic, screaming for help. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear them well; my ears were severely blocked by a loud ringing. When I returned to the seventh floor, I witnessed the aftermath. My neighbour, Oksana Oleksandrivna, emerged with her husband, and Aunt Vira Maksymenko's apartment doors were wide open. She lay on the floor, overturned. I tried to revive her, but she showed no response. We immediately called for help, and the ambulance arrived remarkably quickly, within seven to ten minutes. They began checking each floor," recounts Ihor Levchenko.
Russian forces targeted Serhiivka with Tu-22M3 strategic bombers. The Monitor platform disclosed details of three aircraft potentially involved in this attack, taking off from the Volgograd region, likely Marinovka airbase. Flying towards the occupied peninsula, they launched three X-22 missiles over the western coast of Crimea. The entire flight time was a mere 2.5 minutes, providing little chance for civilians to react.
The X-22 missile dubbed an "aircraft carrier killer," carries a nuclear warhead, originally designed for eliminating aircraft carrier groups or their support ships during the Soviet era. Weighing almost a ton at 950 kilograms, it stands as one of the largest currently deployed, likely the largest launched from an aircraft, according to Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat. The X-22 missile boasts a range of up to 600 kilometres, rendering Ukrainian air defence forces incapable of countering aircraft carriers. Moreover, Ukraine lacks the necessary air defence capabilities to intercept these missiles, with none successfully shot down to date. Each X-22 launch presents a potential threat, as evidenced by previous strikes on a shopping mall in Odesa, Kremenchuk, and a residential building in Dnipro.
Ignat emphasises the danger of the X-22's acceptable 600-meter deviation from the target in densely populated cities. Flying at speeds exceeding 4,500 kilometres per hour, there is minimal time between launch and impact, giving residents only minutes to seek shelter. Military analyst Vladyslav Selezniov underscores the terror tactic behind these attacks, highlighting the missile's massive 950-kilogram warhead causing extensive destruction and its incredibly high speed.
The X-22 is classified as a supersonic aeroballistic missile, blending characteristics of cruise and ballistic missiles. Its use in Ukraine is escalating, possibly due to diminishing precision weapons in Russia's arsenal. It's crucial to recall that in July, Russian forces targeted southern Ukraine, including Odesa, with X-22 missiles, inflicting substantial damage and harm to civilians.
"This is nothing more than a weapon of terrorism against the civilian population. Some of the missiles do not reach their targets - they are outdated, storage conditions may not have been right, etc. But some of the missiles do reach their targets, though imprecisely. This is not a precision weapon, let's say. They were designed for a nuclear warhead - to hit approximately the right area and let the explosive shockwave do the intended damage, as was planned in the Soviet Union," emphasizes Yuriy Ignat.
At the same time, Russian President Vladimir Putin's press secretary Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the missile strike on Serhiivka last year, cynically emphasized that Russian troops supposedly do not target civilians: "I want to remind you again of the words of the President of the Russian Federation and Commander-in-Chief that the Russian Federation's armed forces during the special military operation do not target civilian objects or infrastructure."
Russian Armed Forces spokesperson Igor Konashenkov went even further. According to him, on July 1, 2022 in Odesa region, Russian troops destroyed not a recreation base and a residential building, but a radar station: "The Russian Federation's armed forces continue to strike military sites throughout Ukraine. Operational, tactical and army air forces, missile forces and artillery hit 32 command posts of Ukraine's armed forces. A radar station for air target detection was destroyed near Katranka village in Odesa region.
Expert Vladyslav Seleznyov explains this reaction from Russian representatives as typical of them since 2014: "Putin and his henchmen do not care at all about collateral damage, and this applies not only to the inhabitants of our country. After all, missile attacks often kill people who have nothing to do with Ukraine's defense forces - children, the elderly, women. This was the case in Serhiivka, Dnipro, Kremenchuk. By firing these types of missiles, the enemy may have targeted some military facility and talked about it. But the missiles hit facilities that had nothing to do with the defense forces. Russian propagandists and officials lie every time they open their mouths. I first encountered this in February 2014 when they talked about the 'little green men,' talked about the so-called Crimean self-defense, that any tank or other weapons can be bought at any military store."
Responding to our inquiry, the Office of the Prosecutor General said that the Serhiivka shelling is being investigated by the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU). Currently, Oleg Tymoshyn has been notified of suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war as part of a group. He faces life imprisonment. The investigation is ongoing.
SSU spokesperson Artem Dekhtyarenko also reported that the agency has collected extensive evidence against Tymoshyn, who is involved in other terrorist attacks on Ukrainian territory: "The Security Service of Ukraine, together with the Office of the Prosecutor General, has assembled extensive evidence against the commander of a Russian military unit who is involved in a series of missile attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure. The war criminal is Colonel Oleg Tymoshyn, commander of the 52nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Russian Federation’s Long-Range Aviation of the Aerospace Forces. In July, Tymoshyn ordered a strike on a multi-story residential building and the Goji recreation base in Serhiivka, Odesa region."
So now we can identify the potential circle of those involved in the murders and injuries of civilians in Serhiivka. After all, we already know many details.
Oleg Yevgenyevich Tymoshyn, born in 1971, became commander of the 52nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Regiment in 2021. This is military unit 33310, based at Shaykovka airfield in Kaluga Oblast.
Tymoshyn was appointed commander after the crash that killed three Tu-22M3 pilots in spring 2021, including then-regiment commander Vadym Belosliudtsev. For a short time after the accident, the aviation regiment was headed by Colonel Andriy Samoilov, a Tu-22M3 crew commander. He likely continues to serve now and is involved in the killing of Ukrainians.
In April 2022, a Russian court sentenced the only crash survivor, Major Oleksiy Skvortsov, and technician Igor Aristov to suspended sentences.
It is currently unknown whether they continue to serve in the 52nd aviation regiment, but given the war, Skvortsov, an experienced pilot who even represented Shaykovka airfield at the 2020 Moscow parade, is likely involved in the so-called "special military operation" and may be involved in missile strikes on Ukraine.
According to open data, the 52nd aviation regiment has up to 27 Tu-22M3 aircraft of various modifications. Eighteen aircraft is the more pessimistic number cited. In 2021, 850 regiment personnel were awarded for some kind of combat merit, in honor of the 77th anniversary of the aviation regiment’s founding.
Before becoming commander of the 52nd aviation regiment, Tymoshyn served in Murmansk Oblast as commander of a long-range aviation regiment, as evidenced by numerous Russian Ministry of Defense news reports. For example, in April 2021, under Tymoshyn’s leadership in Murmansk Oblast there were training flights and airfield security exercises.
The Myrotvorets website published the war criminal’s registered address - Murmansk Oblast, Olenegorsk-8, Gvardeyskaya Street, Building 15, Apartment 18. He has a profile on the Russian social network VKontakte under an alias; the page is currently empty so it is unknown if he accessed it recently. But many of the comments curse him for the strikes on Ukraine in which he is complicit.
We wrote to him, but so far, he hasn't read the message.
In January 2023, the Security Service of Ukraine named a number of names belonging to the command staff of the 52nd Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 33310 military unit.
Among them are the commander of the aviation squadron, Aleksey Ivanenko; the chief of staff of the squadron, Dmitriy Golenkov; navigators Denis Grigoriev and Dinar Nazirov, who "appeared" in the celebration of the 52nd aviation regiment's anniversary, as well as aviation weapons engineer Evgeniy Potseluyev.
We were able to find the latter on VKontakte and sent him a message asking about the shelling of Serhiivka. Yevgeniy Potseluiev read it but ignored it. After the SBU released the names of the 52nd Air Regiment’s military personnel.
Journalists from the Russian publication Important Stories were able to talk to two of them and ask about shelling peaceful Ukrainians. In particular, Dmitriy Golenkov stated: "Did I really press the f-ing button or sit on that plane? Crimea is still ours, and everything else is ours. What do you want from us?".
After the January 2023 terrorist attack in Dnipro, where Russian troops shelled an apartment building with an X-22 missile, killing dozens of civilians, OSINT investigators from the Molfar community identified data on several more military personnel from the 33310 military unit who may be involved in the murder of peaceful Ukrainians, including in Serhiivka. For example, 29-year-old pilot Aleksandr Vasin, who, despite his young age, was already a crew commander in 2020.
Vasin is registered on the Russian social network VKontakte under the name Aleksandr Chernov, but he has restricted the ability to view his profile and send him messages.
In addition, a pilot from Shaikovka is Dmitriy Pankin, who in 2016 owed 55 thousand rubles (approximately one thousand US dollars) in utility payments.
Evidently, before the start of the so-called "Special Military Operation," the elite Russian military personnel were paid "pennies" by the state, which was not even enough to pay utility bills.
Other military pilots of the 52nd Air Regiment who are likely involved in shelling Ukraine include Mykhailo Bykov, Vladimir Komarov, and Tu-22 M3 crew commander Nikolay Ageyev.
The latter, along with the aforementioned Aleksey Ivanenko and Andrey Samoilov, took part in the victory parade in Moscow in 2019.
In general, Russian military personnel and their relatives are evidently experiencing "great anxiety" right now.
Since December 2022, a small community group called "Shaikovka military unit 33310" has been active on VKontakte, created for "mommies whose children serve in the Russian Aerospace Forces." One of the posts in this community is information for those whose relatives have been out of communication from the combat zone for over a month.
In particular, relatives are told how to provide a DNA sample to identify a potentially liquidated occupier.
We managed to talk with one of the members of this community, Lyudmila Ilyasova. Her profile is private. The photo depicts a dog against the background of the
Russian tricolour with a patriotic slogan: "Together we are strong." The header of the profile indicates a wish for positivity, happiness, success, etc.
Nevertheless, Ilyasova's messages are not imbued with particular positivity. At first, she wondered why we were writing specifically to her, asked to show a press ID, and asked why the profile was empty.
Then Lyudmila Ilyasova began writing in broken Ukrainian that no one serves in Shaikovka, and in general she has relatives in Ukraine. And then – threats and rudeness typical for Russians. At the end of the conversation, Ilyasova blocked the ability to send her messages.
Communication with this person led to the thought that perhaps one of her relatives serves in Shaikovka. On the network, we found an old and currently deleted profile of a certain Mark Ilyasov on a Russian portal of aviation photography. His contacts include another user of the portal, Kirill, who published dozens of photos of Russian military aircraft, including from his personal archive.
So, it is quite likely that Ilyasova does have a connection to Shaikovka, and her nervousness is understandable.
In addition, let's recall that a few drones of unknown origin have already reached the Shaikovka area, located deep in the rear, twice – on October 7, 2022, and February 6, this year, respectively. Not to mention the combat zone. Then the local Russian authorities assured that neither the airfield nor the aircraft were damaged. But judging by the published video from the last attack on the Kaluga region, the explosion was quite strong. And during the war, no one can guarantee that this UAV raid will be the last.
Nevertheless, no destroyed enemy runway, aircraft or Russian servicemen will ever compensate for the damage inflicted on us and bring back the people killed by Russian missiles.
Олена Чернишова
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