Russian commander charged over mass killings and terror against civilians in Bucha near Kyiv

Investigators from Ukraine's National Police have served the commander of a Russian military unit with a notice of suspicion on charges of command responsibility for mass killings, torture and terror against civilians in the town of Bucha in Kyiv Oblast in March 2022.

Source: National Police of Ukraine; Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko on Facebook

Quote from Kravchenko: "The key issue in this case is command responsibility.

What matters is not only who pulled the trigger, but also who gave the orders, commanded subordinates, knew about the crimes or deliberately enabled them to happen.

A commander cannot hide behind his subordinates. He bears the same responsibility as those who carried out the crimes. That is why we are identifying not only those who were killing. We are identifying everyone who made these crimes possible."

Details: The suspect is Artyom Tareyev, reconnaissance commander and commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 1st Battalion Tactical Group of the 234th Air Assault Regiment of the 76th Air Assault Division of the Russian Airborne Forces. At least 22 civilians were killed by members of his unit.

A pre-trial investigation found that the Russian officer designated part of Yablunska Street in Bucha as a sector in which he ordered his subordinates to use all available weapons and kill anyone present in the area.

Despite knowing that civilians remained in the town, he failed to take appropriate measures to prevent crimes against them. Moreover, through his orders and inaction, he created conditions in which his subordinates acted believing they would enjoy complete impunity.

As a result of this order and other criminal actions by members of the reconnaissance platoon, 22 Ukrainian civilians were killed in March 2022.

Investigators also documented nine cases of cruel treatment of civilians. The documented crimes include unlawful detention, torture to obtain information, beatings, the use of firearms against unarmed civilians, death threats, holding civilians in inhumane conditions and other serious violations of the laws and customs of war.

During the investigation, police established that reconnaissance sniper Artyom Dementyev and senior reconnaissance sniper Kirill Kryuchkov directly participated in a number of the war crimes.

Based on the evidence collected, Artyom Tareyev has been formally notified of suspicion. He faces a life sentence.

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