Ukrainian National Convicted of Treason and Robbery
Senior gunner told the court he understood that he was committing an offence but “could not fail to carry out the order”.
Ukrainian National Convicted of Treason and Robbery
Senior gunner told the court he understood that he was committing an offence but “could not fail to carry out the order”.
A Ukrainian from the eastern city of Donetsk has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for his participation in crimes including the theft of nearly one million US dollars from a house in Kherson region.
On June 1, a court in the southern port city of Odesa sentenced Artur Davtyan for treason under martial law, participation in activities of armed formations not provided for by law and for violating the laws and customs of war by prior conspiracy by a group of persons.
The Suvorovskyi district court found the accused guilty of participating in the robbery of a farmhouse in the district of Kakhovka, in Kherson region, where he was stationed in spring 2022. A prisoner of war, Davtyan was tried by video link from the West 1 detention centre in western Ukraine.
The law graduate was mobilised on February 24, 2022 and dispatched to Dzhankoy, a city in Russian-occupied Crimea, where he received the rank of senior gunner in the police’s motorised rifle regiment of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).
In early March 2022, Davtyan was in the Kakhovka district, on duty at a checkpoint set up in a disused gas station at the crossroads between Kherson and Nova Kakhovka. His duties included checking cars and local residents’ documents to identify Ukrainian soldiers.
On the morning of March 14, he and 17 accomplices from the so-called DPR police arrived at a farmhouse in the Kakhovka district. As roles were assigned, Davtyan and others not yet identified by the investigation remained outside the building for surveillance, while another group went inside.
Once in the house, they robbed the owner at gunpoint of cash and valuables amounting to about 36 million hryvnias (984,000 US dollars). The stolen property included 800,000 dollars in cash, four men's Patek Philippe watches and cufflinks, two iPhone 13s and one iPhone 11, Apple headphones, an Apple Watch, a computer system and a Bulgari watch. The Russian military also seized three cars: two Mercedes-Benz from the courtyard and a Toyota Land Cruiser 200 from the garage.
One of the people in the house was taken to the city of Nova Kakhovka where he was handed over to a person not identified by the investigation. He was then released in the early afternoon.
During the trial, Davtyan admitted his guilt. He told the court that, upon receiving the summons, he went to a mobilisation point in Donetsk. Together with 300 other men, he was taken first to the coastal town of Novoazovsk in the Donetsk region, then to Taganrog on the other side of the border with Russia where the group was flown to Dzhankoy in occupied Crimea.
Lodged in a school, they were each given an AK-74 assault rifle. On March 1, 2022, they crossed the administrative border and entered the Kherson region for their deployment.
Davtyan stated that on March 14, a representative of the occupying forces, call sign Filin, was ordered to seize an employee of Ukraine’s Security forces (SBU).
The accused and other 17 servicemen left for Nova Kakhovka and headed to a specific address they had been provided: Davtyan said that they drove up to a “beautiful house” and blocked the road. He remained on the street: like everyone else in the squad, he was armed and carried an AK-47 rifle.
Davtyan stated that the other servicemen came out after some time with a bag, a computer processor and other items; he said that he overheard them having a conversation about watches. He was then told to drive the Mercedes car out into the street.
“I realised that the man was not an SBU employee, but an ordinary civilian,” Davtyan said in court, adding that he drove one of the Mercedes to the building where the owner of the house was taken and later also took the large Toyota jeep.
As instructed, they handed over the man in Nova Kakhovka and Davtyan later returned to his post at the checkpoint. He said that for “the good job done” he and his accomplices received 10,000 dollars, about 600 dollars each.
He also said that on May 27, 2022 he was arrested by the Russian military police and kept in a basement for four and-a-half months; he did not specify why.
On October 10, Davtyan was released and transferred to Yasynuvata, a city in Donetsk region. On October 26, he and six other servicemen were sent on a mission near the village of Chervoni Partizany. In the ensuing battle, the men came under Ukrainian mortar fire: only Davtyan survived and he was captured.
The father-of-two told the court that he understood that he was committing a crime, but he “could not fail to carry out the order” and added that he did not take part in hostilities or use weapons. He said that he could not avoid mobilisation because he would have faced 15 years in prison.
The court found him guilty foofr violating the laws and customs of war by prior conspiracy by a group of persons (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438 of the criminal code), treason under martial law (Part 2 of Article 111 of the criminal code) and participation in activities of armed formations not provided for by law (Part 5 of Article 260 of the criminal code).
Sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property, he has 30 days to appeal.
In March 2023, Davtyan told Lviv Media reporters about his life in Donetsk. He holds three passports - Ukrainian, Russian and one from the so-called DPR. He said that during the time he was in Ukraine as a prisoner of war, “he did not meet a single Nazi [in Ukraine]”.
