Tuesday, 28 November ‘23

Russia’s Energy Minister Accused of Supplying Occupied Territories

Investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) reported the suspicion in absentia to Nikolay Shulginov, Russia's Minister of Energy, for providing supplies to military units and occupation administrations in Ukraine’s southern occupied territories.

The 72-year-old, who is on the sanction list for Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Ukraine and the US, is accused of connecting Ukraine’s energy facilities to Russia’s unified system. The investigation found that in July 2022, Shulginov travelled to occupied Crimea and announced the connection of the peninsula's energy grid to the power plants in the occupied areas of the Kherson region, on the left bank of the Dnieper river. .

Shulginov is accused of the encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine under Part 2 of Article 110 and the violation of the procedure for entering and leaving the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine under Parts 1 and 2 of Article 332 -1.

Two Russian Servicemen Suspected of Shooting Cars with Civilians in Chernihiv

Police in the Chernihiv region reported in absentia the suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war in combination with intentional murder against two Russian servicemen under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 438 of the criminal code. 

According to the investigation, Artem Tereshonkov, 22, and Vladyslav Dongak, 35, were in a Russian military convoy that crossed from Belarus into the region of Chernihiv in March 2022. While driving through one village, the suspects opened fire with machine guns at a Renault Duster with six civilian passengers. The car reportedly had stopped and pulled over to the side of the road to let the column of military equipment pass. The investigation established that the two servicemen fired at least 11 shots. Two passengers died on the spot, two others were injured.

Police investigators issued a suspicion in absentia under the same provisions against Russian senior intelligence officer Ruslan Minhazov. The 36-year-old is accused of being involved in the shooting of two cars carrying civilians, including children, on the highway in Chernihiv’s Prylutsky district. The investigation found that the driver of one of the cars died and that Minhazov, together with an accomplice, shot at the engine of the car, which then exploded.

Former Ukrainian Lawmaker Sentenced

On November 13, the Lychakiv District Court in Lviv sentenced Ilya Kiva, a former parliamentarian with the banned pro-Russian Opposition Party - For Life, to 14 years in absentia and confiscation of property.

Kiva was found guilty of publicly calling for violent change and overthrow of the constitutional order and the seizure of state power by a person who is a representative of the government using mass media, treason, public calls for aggressive war, and public use of symbols of the communist totalitarian regime by a representative of the government. The charges are brought against him under Part 3 of Article 109, Part 1 of Article 111, Article 436 and Part 2 of Article 436-1 of the criminal code.

The investigation established that Kiva participated in television propaganda shows in Russia, called for the seizure of state power in Ukraine, and publicly called for war.

The 46-year-old, who reportedly applied for Russian citizenship in April 2022, is on the  international arrest list and is thought to live near Moscow. 

Nearly 20,000 Ukrainian Children Deported 

Ukraine has documented the deportation of more than 19,500 children to Russia or Russia-occupied territories, while in the nearly 20 months since Russia’s invasion only 387 of them returned. Speaking at an international conference held in Toronto, Canada, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin called for “an effective international mechanism powerful enough to stop this criminal policy of kidnapping Ukrainian children and ensure their return”.