Murder of writer Vakulenko: the case of two Russian soldiers is sent to court
Kyiv • UNN
Two Russian soldiers are charged with war crimes for the murder of Ukrainian writer Vakulenko and three other civilians.
Two Russian soldiers who killed children's writer Volodymyr Vakulenko and three other civilians will be tried, UNN reports, citing the Prosecutor General's Office.
"... the prosecutor's office sent to court an indictment against two Russian servicemen on the fact of violation of the laws and customs of war (part 2 of Article 27, part 1, part 2 of Article 28, part 1, part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)," the statement said.
Details
According to law enforcement officers, the defendants are serving in the 4th company of the 4th battalion of the 204th rifle regiment of the mobilization reserve of the so-called "lnr" of the 2nd army corps of the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Southern military district of the Russian Federation. These are the company commander with the call sign 'Lev' and his subordinate, a machine gunner with the nickname 'Udod'. Both are natives of Luhansk.
The investigation established that in the spring of 2022, the defendants were in the then-occupied village of Kapitolivka, Izyum district. They learned that Ukrainian children's writer Volodymyr Vakulenko, who opposes the actions of the Russian Federation, lives in the village.
On March 22, 2022, armed occupiers came to his house and conducted a "search". After that, they detained the writer and his 14-year-old son. The occupiers took them to their place of deployment and tried to persuade the writer to cooperate "with the new government."
When they refused, they forced the man to take off his clothes to reveal tattoos with Ukrainian symbols on his body. Having once again refused, the Russian invaders took the writer back with his son.
On March 24, the occupiers returned again and this time "detained" only the writer. After that, the commander of the 'Lion' company ordered his subordinate machine gunner to shoot the writer. "Udod" shot the man with a Makarov pistol. Volodymyr Vakulenko died on the spot as a result of his gunshot wounds.
The defendants are charged with the murders of three more civilians. They include a former ATO participant and two men. They were kept in a cellar in unsanitary conditions, without light, and systematically beaten with sticks all over their bodies.
After torture, the occupiers took all three victims to the forest in Kapitolivka. The company commander ordered his subordinate, nicknamed 'Udod', to shoot the men. Forensic examinations established that two of the victims were killed by shots from a Makarov pistol. The third victim was beaten to death by the occupiers.
Law enforcement officers also established another fact of ill-treatment of civilians by the suspects. They forced a hryvnia bill into the mouth of one of the "detainees". The occupants added that if the man removed it from his mouth, they would shoot him. However, after inhumane detention in the cellar, they released the civilian.
It has now been established that Lev and Udod committed all the crimes in a group with other Russian military personnel, whose identification is ongoing.
