Cruel Treatment and Mock Executions: Russian Soldier Faces Trial
The 23-year-old could be sentenced to eight to ten years in prison if convicted of offences.
Cruel Treatment and Mock Executions: Russian Soldier Faces Trial
The 23-year-old could be sentenced to eight to ten years in prison if convicted of offences.
A Kyiv court has summoned a Russian military officer to a preliminary hearing on charges of the cruel treatment of civilians in the city of Irpin during its occupation in March.
Ruslan Omaralinov, 23, is originally from the city of Semipalatinsk in Kazakstan but currently registered as living in Pskov, Russia. At the time of the commission of the alleged war crime, he was serving under contract as part of the 234th Airborne Assault Regiment of the armed forces of the Russian Federation, military unit 742268.
On February 27, just three days after the full-scale invasion began, the Russian army approached the city of Irpin, in the suburbs of Kyiv. They would control it for more than three weeks.
After the Ukrainian military liberated the city on March 28, law enforcement officers interviewed about 1,500 people to collect evidence of Russian war crimes and exhumed 269 bodies, which were sent for forensic examination.
According to the investigation, Omaralinov entered Irpin together with other Russian soldiers on March 6. Having occupied a private home, the accused and his compatriots parked two combat reconnaissance and patrol cars in the yard.
They then began searching the city, looking for Ukrainian servicemen and law enforcement officers.
On March 7, the Russians found ten men in the basement of one of the houses, including the victim cited in the case, whose age is not yet known by the Ukrainian investigation. The identities of the nine others were not established at the time of the pre-trial investigation.
The Russian soldiers seized two mobile phones from the men and imprisoned them in the basement of a residential complex. According to the prosecution, Omaralinov, together with his accomplices, beat the prisoners in the ribs and legs with the butts of their weapons and threatened to shoot and kill them.
They denied prisoners food and drinking water and forced them to relieve themselves in the basement.
At the time, Omaralinov and other Russians allegedly explained their actions as part of necessary “filtration measures".
The Ukrainian investigation said that on March 10, Omaralinov and his colleagues mocked the victim and the nine other men and carried out a simulated execution, firing machine guns over their heads. On March 15, the accused and his accomplices, who were not identified by the investigation, were at the intersection of Gogol and Davydenko streets in Irpin when they fired shots in the direction of a woman as she walked past them, injuring her legs.
According to Ukrainian legislation, Omaralinov is charged under Part 1 of Art 438 of the criminal code of Ukraine on the violation of laws and customs of war. He faces eight to 12 years in prison.
The prosecution refers both to the constitution of Ukraine and the requirements of the Geneva Convention. Robbery, physical or moral coercion, brutal treatment and any measures that can cause physical suffering of civilians are prohibited.
According to the investigation, Omaralinov left the territory of Ukraine on April 1 for the Belarus and from there travelled to Russia on April 2.
Soon after, Ukrainian investigators summoned him as a suspect for questioning. They posted notices of the summons on the official website of the prosecutor general's office and sent subpoenas to Omaralinov's email address, but he did not appear for questioning or state the reason for his non-appearance.
Omaralinov was declared wanted in May, and in June the court gave permission for a special pre-trial investigation into the case.
According to the criminal procedure code of Ukraine, a special pre-trial investigation can be carried out in relation to an adult suspect hiding from the authorities in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, or in an aggressor state, with the aim of evading criminal responsibility.
Omaralinova's defence attorney objected to granting the prosecution's request for a special pre-trial investigation, citing a lack of sufficient evidence in the petition materials. The Ukrainian investigation operates an evidentiary base, which includes protocols of interrogation of witnesses and victims and the presentation of a person for identification by photographs. According to law enforcement officers, witnesses and the victims of abuse recognised the offender.
At the end of June, the security service of Ukraine sent the indictment in Omaralinov's case to the court. The hearing has been ongoing for more than five months, repeatedly postponed for various reasons; Omaralinov’s lawyer was replaced, air raids disrupted the work of the court and electricity blackouts forced the suspension of proceedings.
At a hearing of the Solomyanskyi district court of Kyiv on December 9, the prosecutor submitted a statement from the woman victim about the case.
However, it became clear that the preparatory meeting had not yet been held, postponed due to the defendant's non-appearance and the need for his proper notification.
The summons must be published on the website of the court, the office of the prosecutor general and the Government Courier parliamentary newspaper. The accused must also be summoned to the court once again.
This is the second time the indictment has been sent to the court.
Omaralinov's new lawyer, from the centre for providing free legal aid, agreed with the prosecutor’s position that the accused should be summoned again. The court scheduled the next hearing for January 4, 2023. According to procedure, if the accused does not appear after two or more summonses, the prosecutor will be able to petition the court for special proceedings and consideration of the case in absentia.
