A suspected occupier who shot dead five soldiers from the 72nd Brigade and a civilian in the Kharkiv region has been notified of suspicion.
Kyiv • UNN
A 36-year-old Russian serviceman, Leonid Ryzhikov, was detained in the Kharkiv region. He is suspected of shooting five unarmed soldiers and a civilian.
The occupier who shot dead five Ukrainian servicemen and one civilian in the Kharkiv region has been notified of suspicion, UNN reports, citing the Security Service of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office.
Details
It has been established that on October 13, 2026, he shot dead five unarmed servicemen of the Defense Forces of Ukraine and one civilian man.
According to the report, the suspect is 36-year-old Russian citizen and Saint Petersburg resident Leonid Ryzhikov. He served in the 2nd Battalion of the 1009th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 68th Motorized Rifle Division of the 6th Combined Arms Army of the Russian armed forces and had the call sign "Yula."
According to the SBU, the suspect was mobilized into the army of the aggressor state at the end of July this year. This occurred after he had served eight years in prison for intentionally causing grievous bodily harm and theft.
After his mobilization, "Yula" was sent to fight against Ukraine in the temporarily occupied territory of the Chuhuiv district of the Kharkiv region.
The SBU established that on October 5–6, while at the positions of Russian occupation forces near the village of Starytsia in the Chuhuiv district, Ryzhikov came under fire from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Armed with an AK-74 assault rifle, he fled the area and began walking toward the city of Kharkiv, hiding in tree belts.
While moving, he robbed an abandoned private house, stealing civilian clothing from it.
On October 13, near the village of Mykhailivka in the Kharkiv district, Ryzhikov shot dead, without any reason, a 60-year-old local civilian who was fishing in a pond. After killing the elderly man, he pushed his body into the water.
On the same day, "Yula" entered a private household in the village of Momotove, where five servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were temporarily staying. At that time, they were not participating in hostilities, had no weapons with them, and were dressed in civilian clothing, meaning that they were civilians within the meaning of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
Without any necessity, Ryzhikov mercilessly shot these people, some of whom were simply sleeping. Afterward, he hid his assault rifle in one of the properties of a dacha-and-garden association located nearby and, hiding in forest belts, headed toward Kharkiv
SBU officers, together with the National Police and the National Guard, detained the Russian serviceman on October 14, 2026, in the Saltivskyi district of Kharkiv, where he was hiding after committing the crimes.
Law enforcement officers also found and seized the weapon used to commit the crime – an AK-74 Kalashnikov assault rifle that belonged to Ryzhikov.
Based on the evidence collected, investigators of the Security Service notified the detained Russian serviceman of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (war crimes resulting in the death of people).
He faces life imprisonment.
The issue of imposing a preventive measure in the form of detention in custody is being considered.
The pretrial investigation is ongoing.
Reminder
In a residential building in the Kharkiv region, five servicemen of the 72nd Brigade were shot dead. The prosecutor's office is investigating the intentional murder; Russian citizens are suspected among those involved.