Ukraine's Security Service and intelligence gather evidence of war crimes by Serbian mercenary during occupation of Kyiv Oblast

Ukraine's Security Service (SSU) and analysts from Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) have gathered evidence of Serbian mercenary Davor Savičič's involvement in war crimes during Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine.

Source: The Book of Executioners online platform

Details: The investigation charges Savičič with mistreatment of civilians during the occupation of the Vyshhorod and Bucha districts of Kyiv Oblast in February-March 2022.

Two key episodes are involved.

On 3 March 2022, in the village of Fedorivka, Russian forces led by Savičič discovered a local resident who had been sheltering from strikes in a concrete pipe along with other people.

According to the investigators, Savičič ordered the man to undress to his underwear. The soldiers took his phone, bound his hands with a plastic cable tie, pulled a hat over his eyes, and drove him to a forest between the villages of Shybene and Krasnyi Rih.

There, the man was tied to a tree and a hand grenade was placed between his back and the tree trunk with the pin pulled, forcing him to stand under threat of death for around two hours.

The man was then taken to a field tent for interrogation. According to the investigators, Savičič demanded information on the location of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and forced the man to make false statements for Russian media.

When the man refused, Savičič reportedly beat him with a rifle butt on the legs and, after he fell, on the head and back. The man was subsequently forced to dig a pit approximately one metre by one metre, where he was unlawfully held from 3 to 9 March in below-zero temperatures with almost no food or water.

On 5 March 2022, in the urban-type settlement of Ivankiv, Russian forces unlawfully entered the flat of a local resident and detained her. The woman's hands were bound with a cable tie; she was taken to a forest near the village of Shybene and held in a van until 8 March.

On 6 March she was brought for interrogation by Savičič. According to the investigators, he demanded information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine and forced the woman to take part in a staged interview for propaganda purposes. To intimidate the woman, Savičič threatened her with violence and simulated striking her with a chair.

On 22 May, he was formally served with a suspicion notice under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Savičič's actions were classified under Article 28.2 and Article 438.1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine – violation of the laws and customs of war.

Details on the war criminal: Davor Dragoljubović Savičič (born 10 January 1980) is a native of Banovići, Bosnia and Herzegovina, of Serbian ethnicity. He resides in Khimki, Russia, and holds dual citizenship of the Russian Federation and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He holds the rank of colonel in the Redut private military company (PMC).

He previously served in the Serbian paramilitary formation Serbian Volunteer Guard (Arkan's Tigers), where he went by the alias Elvis. According to the investigation, while serving in this formation, he was suspected of killing five civilians in Kosovo on 14 December 1998 in the city of Peć and of involvement in organising an explosion in Montenegro that killed six people on 30 January 2001 in the city of Berane. He was acquitted in 2008.

In 2014, Savičič again came to media attention as a participant in a unit of Serbian "volunteers" involved in the occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

He was then recorded in joint photos and videos with Wagner PMC mercenaries in Syria. In the recordings, according to the investigation, individuals are addressed by the names "Savičič" and "Wolf".

As of February-March 2022, he commanded the Volki (Wolves) sabotage and reconnaissance unit, operating as part of Russia's Eastern military grouping. The unit took part in the occupation of settlements in Zhytomyr and Kyiv oblasts.

Following significant losses in autumn 2022, the unit was withdrawn to Russian territory and reinforced with personnel from other Redut PMC units. Between November 2022 and January 2023, the unit was reorganised into the 1st Volunteer Reconnaissance and Assault Brigade Volki, which was incorporated into the Volunteer Corps.

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