Prosecutors have sent to court an indictment against five high-ranking officials of the Russian armed forces involved in organizing an airstrike on the "Epitsentr" hypermarket in Kharkiv on May 25, 2024. As a result of the attack, 19 people were killed and 46 were injured. This was reported by the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, reports UNN.
Details
According to the investigation, on May 25, 2024, Russian Su-34 aircraft took off from the "Buturlinovka" airfield in the Voronezh region and launched three unified inter-service planning munitions UMPB D-30SN at the "Epitsentr" hypermarket in the Kyivskyi district of Kharkiv. Nineteen people died then, among them two children: a 12-year-old girl and a 17-year-old boy. Another 46 people were injured.
As part of the pre-trial investigation, 52 inspections of the scene, 147 forensic examinations were conducted, and more than 150 people were questioned. It has been confirmed that environmental damage exceeded 860 million hryvnias, and the Russian strike caused material damage to "Epitsentr" itself of over 330 million hryvnias. Thanks to the extensive work carried out, it was possible to identify five officials of the Russian armed forces — four generals and a colonel who developed the bombing plan, gave the order, and ensured its execution
According to the investigation, the commander of the "North" group of forces made the decision and assigned the task to his first deputy — the chief of staff — to develop proposals and a plan for fire damage to the "Epitsentr" hypermarket, and he directly planned the attack and prepared combat orders.
The technical calculations of time, number of aircraft, and aviation means of destruction were carried out by the chief of staff — first deputy commander of the 6th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Armed Forces. Based on the received materials, the commander of the 6th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Aerospace Forces, a native of Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region, gave the combat order for the aviation sortie. The commander of the 47th Bomber Aviation Regiment of the 105th Mixed Aviation Division of the 6th Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Aerospace Forces passed this order to his subordinates — they carried out the launch of munitions at the hypermarket
Now, the prosecutor of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office has approved and sent to court an indictment against five Russian high-ranking officials for violating the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder, committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine as amended in the version effective as of May 2024). The pre-trial investigation was conducted by investigators of the SBU Directorate in the Kharkiv region.
"On a weekend, about 200 people were in 'Epitsentr' — these were ordinary families with children, shoppers, and staff. The Russian military commanders deliberately and cynically chose a huge hypermarket in a residential area of Kharkiv as a target, carefully calculating the time and power of the means of destruction to achieve the maximum number of civilian casualties. The total amount of damage from this enemy strike exceeded 1.1 billion hryvnias. We are doing everything possible so that each of those involved answers before the law and receives a fair punishment," emphasized the prosecutor of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.
On a weekend, about 200 people were in 'Epitsentr' — these were ordinary families with children, shoppers, and staff. The Russian military commanders deliberately and cynically chose a huge hypermarket in a residential area of Kharkiv as a target, carefully calculating the time and power of the means of destruction to achieve the maximum number of civilian casualties. The total amount of damage from this enemy strike exceeded 1.1 billion hryvnias. We are doing everything possible so that each of those involved answers before the law and receives a fair punishment