Ordered civilians to be held in basement as "human shields": court sentences Russian army commander

One of the commanders of the Russian army was sentenced to 12 years in prison by a court in Chernihiv Oblast for ordering civilians to be held in a school basement as "human shields" during the occupation of the village of Yahidne.

Source: Office of the Prosecutor General

Details: At the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian commander who goes under the alias Klyon was stationed in the occupied village of Yahidne in the Chernihiv district. He ordered his subordinates to hold 369 people in the school basement, including 69 minors.

Prosecutors proved in court that the Russians used the residents as "human shields". In particular, the commander understood that Ukrainian forces would not strike a building containing civilians. In this way, the Russian troops covered their command post.

Conditions in the basement were inhumane. In addition, the civilians had no access to medical assistance, which led to the deaths of 10 people.

The captain was sentenced in absentia to 12 years in prison. The court found him guilty of issuing orders involving cruel treatment of civilians and violating the laws and customs of war under Article 28.2 (criminal offence committed by a group of persons upon prior conspiracy) and Article 438.1 (violation of the laws and customs of war) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The appellate court upheld the verdict of the court of first instance.

Background: Law enforcement officers have also served a Russian serviceman with a notice of suspicion for illegally detaining and raping a local woman for three days in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast.

Support Ukrainska Pravda on Patreon!