Tuesday, 28 May ‘24

Russian Soldier Sentenced in Absentia for Shooting Villagers 

On May 2, the Chernihiv district court sentenced in absentia Russian soldier Alexey Uletsky to 11 years in prison for brutal treatment of civilians in violation of the laws and customs of war under Part 1 of Article 438 of the criminal code. The court found the 25-year-old, from Russia’s Siberian region of Kemerovo, guilty of the crime during the occupation of the Syberezh, a village in Ukraine’s eastern region of Chernihiv. Uletsky is now believed to be in the Russian Federation. 

According to the investigation, in March 2022, Uletsky fired a machine gun at a man and a woman who were walking in the street, with the purpose of intimidating them. The woman was wounded in the shoulder. The victims recognised the accused from a photo and confirmed in court how the shooting happened. Uletsky’s defence has 30 days to appeal the verdict. 

Donetsk Citizen Issued Suspicion for Treason and Torture 

Investigators of Ukraine’s security service (SBU) reported a suspicion in absentia against Ihor Davleev, a resident of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), for treason and cruel treatment of prisoners of war in violation of the laws and customs of war (Part 1 of Article 111 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the criminal code. According to the investigation, the 59-year-old Ukrainian citizen from the Donetsk region participated in the capture of the southern port city of Mariupol in 2022 as deputy commander of DPR’s 2nd company of the 9th separate assault regiment of the 1st army corps. 

In March 2022, Davleev’s company captured a 31-year-old member of Mariupol’s territorial defence; they searched the man’s apartment and found a military uniform. The man was kept in the basement of the company’s headquarters, where he was tortured.  He was beaten with iron and wooden sticks, tortured with electric current and hung from a metal hook and subjected to a mock execution. The man was told to confess he was a member of the Ukrainian military unit Azov. The accused reportedly gave orders and personally participated in the torture.  

According to the suspicion, around April 20, 2022, the victim was able to escape from captivity, taking advantage of the inattention of the guards; his current whereabouts are unknown. 

Two Ukrainian Former Judges Accused of Collaborationism 

Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation issued a suspicion in absentia against Tamara Mishchenko,63, and Natalia Kupavska, 66, for voluntarily collaborating with the Russian occupation authorities in Melitopol, in Zaporizhia region. The two former judges of the Melitopol City district court are accused of taking up positions in the illegal judicial bodies created in the occupied territory (under Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the criminal code).  

According to the investigation, in 2023 the former judges took up posts in the Zaporizhia Regional Court, located in occupied Melitopol.  The Ukrainian Supreme Council of Justice dismissed both judges in 2021. 

Ukrainian Citizen Issued Suspicion for Imprisoning and Torture in Kherson  

The investigators of the Kherson National Police reported a suspicion in absentia to Mykola Belov, a Ukrainian citizen, for treason, collaborationism and brutal treatment of the civilian population under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 1 of Article 438, Part 2 of Article 111 and Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the criminal code. According to the investigation, during the temporary occupation of Kherson in July 2022, the 33-year-old joined the occupation police as “senior investigator”. Together with the Russian military, he reported imprisoned civilians in the seized premises of the Kherson district police department, beating, torturing and depriving them of food and water.