Law enforcers identify first 10 Russian soldiers complicit in Bucha crimes

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Ukraine’s law enforcement officers have exposed the first ten servicemen with the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade of the Russian Ground Forces, involved in the crimes documented in Bucha, Kyiv region after the Russians were forced to withdraw from the area.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova announced this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

The top prosecutor informed that the following Russian soldiers are suspected of ill-treatment of civilians and other violations of the laws and customs of war:

  • Junior Sergeant Vyacheslav Lavrentyev;
  • Private Grigory Naryshkin;
  • Private Vasily Knyazev;
  • Corporal Semyon Maltsev;
  • Private Sergei Peskarev;
  • Private Albert Radnaev;
  • Corporal Mikhail Kashin;
  • Corporal Andriy Bizyaev;
  • Corporal Dmytro Serhiienko; and
  • Sergeant Nikita Akimov.

“Within a relatively short term, the inquiry established that during the occupation of Bucha, these soldiers used to take unarmed civilians hostage, make them suffer from starvation and thirst, keep them on their knees with their hands tied with cables and their eyes taped, torture and beat them. They used fists and rifle butts. People were assaulted to get from them some information about the location of the Armed Forces and the Territorial Defense Forces’ units, while some of them were tortured for no reason at all. Russian servicemen threatened to kill their victims and even staging hoax executions by firing in prisoners’ direction," Venediktova wrote.

According to Ukraine’s Prosecutor General, the investigation has evidence at its disposal proving that these Russian soldiers robbed the locals, taking their personal belongings and household appliances as ‘trophies.’

The Prosecutor General noted that the role and participation of each one of them in the said crimes had been established through investigative efforts jointly undertaken by prosecutors and police, as well as due to personal data of the suspects, gathered by Slidstvo info journalists.

These servicemen are currently being investigated for involvement in the Bucha killings.

Read also: PACE calls for setting up int’l tribunal to investigate, prosecute Russian crimes of aggression

Iryna Venediktova appealed to possible witnesses of the atrocities in Bucha to share information about the involvement of the mentioned Russian military personnel with the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office at the following lines: 097-053-04-65, 097-838-31-87, 050-107-66- 75 or the Bucha District Prosecutor's Office via 063-530-69-06.

In addition, evidence of war crimes can be sent to the portal https://warcrimes.gov.ua/

In early April, Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel, and the entire Kyiv region were liberated from Russian invaders. Mass killings of civilians by the Russian occupiers were exposed in the liberated towns and villages.

On April 8, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell visited Ukraine, including the city of Bucha, where numerous pieces of evidence showing serious crimes committed by the Russian occupiers against humanity were found, including civilian killings, torture, and rape. Following this visit, the President of the European Commission instructed the European Commissioner for Justice to support and coordinate the investigation of these crimes at the EU level.