Tuesday, 2 May ‘23

Kazak Citizen Notified of Suspicion of Mercenary Activity 

A citizen of the Republic of Kazakstan was notified of the suspicion of mercenary participation in an armed conflict, military or violent actions (Part 4 of Article 447 of the criminal code of Ukraine). The prosecutor general’s office did not name the accused, but reported that he was currently in custody.

According to the investigation, in October 202, the native of Kazakstan’s northern region of Petropavlovsk was serving a sentence for rape in a Russian prison when he was recruited to fight in Ukraine by the Wagner private military company.

The man signed a contract to receive at least 200,000 roubles per month (2,520 US dollars). He trained in a camp in Russia’s south-western region of Rostov and was then deployed to fight in the area of Kreminna, a town in the Luhansk region, and around the village of Yakovlivka, near Bakhmut district in Donetsk region.

Suspicion Against Head of Chechnya's Parliament for Forming Armed Units 

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported the suspicion in absentia to Magomed Daudov, the head of the regional parliament of the Russian Federation’s Chechen Republic, for his role in establishing assault units in the north Caucasus region for Russian forces fighting in Ukraine. 

According to intelligence information, since May 2022, Daudov has been instrumental in setting up the 78th North-Akhmat Special Purpose Motorised Regiment and the South-Akhmat, West-Akhmat and East-Akhmat battalions. After training, men were transferred to occupied areas in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

The investigation found that in 2022 Daudov repeatedly visited the occupied territories of Lysychansk, Popasnaya and Mariupol, where he met the leaders of the Kadyrovites, the specialised Chechen units named after the republic’s head Ramzan Kadyrov. He also disseminated Kadyrov's speeches justifying Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on his Telegram channel.

SBU Identifies Russian Who Admitted Killing Ukrainian Prisoners 

The SBU said they have identified a Russian serviceman who admitted killing a Ukrainian prisoner of war in a phone conversation with a female acquaintance. The SBU recorded the call, which was made from Ukraine's eastern front.

According to the SBU, the soldier is Suchko Yevgeniy Yuriyovych, born in 1995 in Russia’s north-western region of Novgorod. He was mobilised in the autumn of 2022 and has been serving with his unit in the Kharkiv region.

“A person needs to be slaughtered a little. But this is not the first time for me [...] People who are prisoners of war ... to us no point in keeping [them,” the recording states. “Well, because we elicit all the information from them. There is no point in holding [them] . Here ... they must be disposed of”. He added details about how he killed one prisoner.

Nine Russian Soldiers to be Tried for Robbing Civilians 

The Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office sent an indictment to the court against nine Russian servicemen for violating the laws and customs of war by a group of persons (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438 of the criminal code). They are likely to be tried in absentia.

Police investigators found that during the occupation of Tsyrkuny, a village in Kharkiv district, nine Russian soldiers robbed a private house, stealing electronic and house appliances worth over a million hryvnias ( 27,000 dollars). 

Robberies in Kyiv Region: Russian Officer Identified

Police investigators summoned Russian rifleman Vadym Shneider about the suspicion of the violation of the laws and customs of war by a group of persons (Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the criminal code).

According to the investigation, in March 2022, during the occupation of Bohdanivka village in the Brovary district of Kyiv region, the suspect, together with other personnel of the Russian Guard’s 748th separate operational battalion, searched residents’ houses. The group forced people who were hiding in the basements out of buildings at gunpoint.