Tortured civilians near Kyiv: Bosnian mercenary, commander of Russian unit, notified of suspicion. PHOTO
A Russian and Bosnian citizen – the commander of the ‘Wolves’ sabotage and reconnaissance unit of the ‘Redut’ private military company – has been charged in absentia with torturing civilians during the occupation of settlements in the Kyiv region.
This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General and the National Police of Ukraine, according to Censor.NET.
What is known
As noted, during the occupation of the Bucha and Vyshhorod districts in March 2022, he tortured civilians alongside Russian military personnel.
Law enforcement officers have established that the suspect is an experienced foreign mercenary with many years of experience participating in armed conflicts, particularly in the Balkans and Syria.
Abduction of civilians
- In the village of Fedorivka, they unlawfully detained a local resident, tied him up, took him to the forest, and subjected him to brutal torture. The victim was beaten with the butt of an automatic rifle, forced to provide information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and even made to stand tied to a tree with a grenade from which the pin had been pulled. After that, the man was held for several days in an open-air pit – without food, water, or the chance to keep warm.
- Also, on 5 March 2022, in the town of Ivankiv, Russian soldiers illegally broke into the flat of a local woman and detained her. The woman’s hands were tied, she was taken to a nearby forest and held in a van until 8 March. On 6 March, she was brought for questioning by the suspect. He demanded information about the Ukrainian Armed Forces and forced the woman to take part in a staged interview for propaganda purposes. To intimidate the victim, a Bosnian mercenary threatened her with violence and pretended to strike her with a chair.
What are the charges?
Police reconstructed the chronology of the crimes, gathered eyewitness accounts, and identified the leader, who later reorganised his unit into a reconnaissance and assault brigade within the so-called "volunteer corps".
It is reported that the commander of the Russian unit is accused of cruel treatment of civilians and violations of the laws and customs of war.
