Atrocities during the occupation of Bucha: Russian army platoon commander suspected of killing 17 civilians
Kyiv • UNN
The Prosecutor General's Office reported a suspicion against a Russian commander who ordered the killing of civilians in Bucha. He is involved in the death of at least 17 civilians.
A Russian commander involved in the murders of 17 civilians in Bucha has been notified of suspicion, the Prosecutor General's Office announced on Friday, UNN writes.
This refers to the commander of one of the platoons of the Russian army, who has been notified of suspicion for ordering murders, direct participation in crimes, and illegal actions of subordinates. He is one of 6 suspected Russian servicemen who committed atrocities in Bucha and believed that no one would ever find them. However, prosecutors brought them to criminal responsibility.
Details
According to the investigation, on March 7, 2022, during the occupation of Kyiv region, servicemen of the 234th Airborne Assault Regiment of the 76th Airborne Division of the Russian Armed Forces, under the command of a lieutenant, established control over the "Lisova Bucha" area.
Conducting so-called "filtration," they carried out searches, torture, and murders of pro-Ukrainian civilians who, in their opinion, could help the defense forces of Ukraine, the prosecutor's office reported.
Throughout March 2022, this officer's subordinates killed at least 17 civilians. To cover up the crimes, they burned the bodies of some of those killed.
"The platoon commander, instead of observing the laws and customs of war, violated them himself, urging subordinates to commit atrocities, convincing them of impunity. He organized a reporting system, thanks to which he knew about all their actions in the occupied territory, and had real opportunities to prevent crimes or punish for their commission," the prosecutor's office emphasized.
As noted by the Prosecutor General's Office, the actions and orders of the Russian commander "created a system in which violence against civilians became the norm of behavior for the entire unit." The commander of this unit fully controlled the actions of his subordinates, the prosecutor's office indicated.
In addition, it was established that the commander himself directly participated in the cruel treatment of three civilians and threatened them with murder.
Under the procedural guidance of the prosecutors of the Prosecutor General's Office, a large-scale set of investigative actions was carried out: more than 330 victims and witnesses were interrogated, 59 investigative experiments were conducted, 86 identifications by photographs, 89 inspections of crime scenes, and 3 exhumations of the bodies of those killed.
"The evidence obtained allowed for a detailed reconstruction of the circumstances of the murders of 17 civilians," the report says.
As a result of the work carried out by investigators and prosecutors, comprehensive evidence regarding the crimes has been collected. The direct perpetrators have been identified, and a unique, comprehensive legal assessment of the platoon commander's actions has been provided.
He has been brought to justice for three forms of war crime - issuing a criminal order, direct commission of a crime jointly with other servicemen, and command responsibility (responsibility for crimes committed by subordinates).
The pre-trial investigation in this proceeding is ongoing. Prosecutors and investigators continue to collect evidence of war crimes committed by Russian occupation forces in Bucha.