War criminal with the call sign "Altai" received a life sentence for executing Ukrainian defenders - Prosecutor General
Kyiv • UNN
Russian prisoner of war Serhiy Tuzhilov has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war. He personally supervised and participated in the murders of three Ukrainian defenders in the Kharkiv region.
Today, Russian prisoner of war Serhiy Tuzhilov, call sign "Altai", was sentenced to life imprisonment for the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war. This was announced by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Ruslan Kravchenko, who added that "every war crime must end exactly like this - with life imprisonment," UNN reports.
Execution of Ukrainian defenders. Life imprisonment for a war criminal. This case is not about the complexity of evidence or legal constructs. It is about the fact that even war has limits. And about the fact that these limits were deliberately, consistently, and repeatedly violated. It is about what Ukraine is fighting for. And how we fundamentally differ from the enemy. Today, Russian prisoner of war Serhiy Tuzhilov, call sign "Altai", was sentenced to life imprisonment for the execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Details
According to the Prosecutor General, Tuzhilov was the commander of a grenade launcher squad of a motorized rifle company of the 82nd motorized rifle regiment of the 69th motorized rifle division of the Russian Armed Forces. During the repeated invasion of Kharkiv region, he, along with other Russian servicemen, occupied the territory of the Vovchansk Aggregate Plant.
In June 2024, an unarmed Ukrainian serviceman, having lost his bearings in the combat zone, ended up in enemy positions. Having no weapons or chances of resistance, he surrendered.
After interrogation, the enemy passed the information to the command. From there, an order was received to kill the prisoner.
It was Tuzhilov who proposed the perpetrator, gave detailed instructions, chose the execution site, which was a checkpoint on the plant's territory, and personally supervised the execution - the shooting of the Ukrainian defender with a shot to the head.
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In early July 2024, two more Ukrainian servicemen were captured. They were tied to poles on the plant's territory. After interrogation, the order was again heard: "Send them to Bandera."
This time, Tuzhilov personally participated in the murder. Together with another soldier, they coordinated the plan and each fired a shot to the back of the prisoner's head.
On September 24, 2024, during the liberation of the plant's territory, special forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate captured Russian servicemen, including "Altai". Prosecutors immediately recorded all circumstances of the crimes and collected evidence.
In court, he repeated: "I am a military man, I followed orders." But following an obviously criminal order is not an excuse. This is a deliberate war crime. A gross violation of the rules of warfare and all international conventions. I know what I'm talking about. I documented war crimes in Kyiv region during and after the occupation. And each time I saw the same thing: a fanatical, insane desire to kill civilians and military personnel, and orders, when they existed, were just formal permission to realize terrible desires.
Today, as reported by the Prosecutor General, the court found Serhiy Tuzhilov guilty of cruel treatment of prisoners of war, combined with intentional murders committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy (Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and sentenced him to the maximum penalty, life imprisonment.
I understand what punishment Ukrainians, tired of war and shocked by the cruelty of the occupiers, desire. But we do not respond to crime with crime. We respond with law and adherence to all norms: the right of a combatant to directly participate in hostilities implies immunity from prosecution for lawful military actions, but combatants do not have such immunity in case of violations of international humanitarian law – violations of the laws and customs of war, committing crimes against protected persons. This is what distinguishes us from the enemy. This is what makes us a state that has the right to demand justice in a special tribunal. Behind every piece of evidence in this case is a human life, cut short not in battle, but in captivity. Broken destinies of mothers, wives, and children. Therefore, the verdict is as fair as possible in this situation.
The Prosecutor General is convinced that "every war crime must end exactly like this: with life imprisonment. Neither distance nor time will stand in the way of just punishment."