Ruscists involved in murder of writer Vakulenko and three other people during occupation of Kharkiv region have been identified - Prosecutor General’s Office
The Russian invaders who killed Ukrainian writer Volodymyr Vakulenko in the Kharkiv region last year have been identified.
This was reported by Censor.NET with reference to the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office.
"The suspects are serving in the 4th company of the 4th battalion of the 204th rifle regiment of the mobilization reserve of the so-called "Luhansk People's Republic" of the 2nd Army Corps of the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. This is the commander of this company with the call sign "Lion" and his subordinate, a machine gunner nicknamed "Hoopoe". Both are natives of the Luhansk city.
According to the investigation, last year the suspects were in the then-occupied Kapytolivka village of the Izyum district. They heard that Ukrainian children's writer Volodymyr Vakulenko, who opposes the actions of the Russian Federation, lives in the village," the statement reads.
On March 22, 2022, the occupiers arrived at Vakulenko's house and conducted a "search" there. After that, they detained the writer and his 14-year-old son. The ruscists took them to their place of deployment and tried to persuade the writer to cooperate "with the new government."
"Having received a refusal, they forced the man to take off his clothes to find tattoos with Ukrainian symbols on his body. Once again, having received a refusal, the Russian invaders took the writer back together with his son.
On March 24, the occupiers returned again, and this time only the writer was "detained". After that, the commander of the "Lion" company ordered his subordinate, a machine gunner, to shoot the writer. "Hoopoe" shot at the man with a Makarov pistol. As a result of gunshot wounds, Volodymyr Vakulenko died on the spot," the Prosecutor General's Office said.
The suspects are charged with the murders of three more civilians. Among them are a former ATO participant and two men. They were kept in the cellar in unsanitary conditions, without electricity, and systematically beaten with sticks all over their bodies.
After torture, the occupiers took all three victims to the forest in Kapytolivka. The company commander ordered his subordinate, nicknamed "Hoopoe", to shoot the men. Examinations established that two of the dead were killed by shots from a Makarov pistol. The third victim was beaten to death by the occupiers.
Law enforcement officers also established another fact of the ill-treatment of civilians by suspects. They forced a hryvnia bill into one of the 'detainees'' mouths. The occupiers added that if a man removed her from his mouth, they would shoot him. However, after inhumane detention in the cellar, they finally released the civilian.
The issue of putting the suspects on the wanted list is currently being resolved. It was established that "Lion" and "Hoopoe" committed all the crimes in a group with other Russian servicemen, whose identification is ongoing.
