Investigators identify five Russian soldiers who killed 17 civilians in Bucha

Ukrainian law enforcement authorities have served notices of suspicion on five Russian soldiers accused of killing 17 civilians in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast, in the area of Ivana Franka, Maksyma Rydzanycha and Naberezhna streets during the occupation of the city in 2022.

Source: National Police of Ukraine

Details: To establish the circumstances of the crimes, police investigators have carried out hundreds of site inspections and interviews with witnesses and victims, along with numerous forensic examinations and investigative experiments. During the exhumations, the police recovered bullets fired from weapons belonging to the 234th Air Assault Regiment of the 76th Division of the Russian Armed Forces.

The National Police reported that, based on eyewitness testimony, ballistic analyses and photo and video evidence, investigators reconstructed the full sequence of events and identified the specific perpetrators of the killings – servicemen from the 234th Air Assault Regiment of the 76th Air Assault Division of the Russian Armed Forces. They are a platoon commander, two senior sergeants (equivalent to staff sergeants), a junior sergeant (corporal), a senior soldier (lance corporal) and a rifleman (private first class).

Police investigators have served all five suspects with notices of suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war involving the deliberate killing of civilians (Article 438.2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The article provides for a penalty of life imprisonment.

The National Police stated that some of the case materials have been submitted to the court, while the remaining ones are in the final stage of investigation.

The pre-trial investigation is being carried out by investigators from the Main Investigation Department of the National Police under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General's Office and with the support of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

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