US authorities have opened a criminal case against four Russian military personnel. They are accused of kidnapping and torturing an American in Ukraine

The US Department of Justice has formally charged four Russian soldiers involved in the invasion of Ukraine with war crimes. They are accused of kidnapping and torturing an American, the department's press service reports.

According to investigators, Russian army officers Suren Mkrtchyan and Dmitry Budnik, as well as their subordinates Valery and Nazar (the Ministry of Justice indicates only their names) kidnapped a US citizen from his home in the Kherson region in April 2022. The department does not specify whether the man had any connection with the Ukrainian army.

The Russian military, the statement says, illegally detained the American for at least ten days. During this time, they repeatedly beat the prisoner, interrogated him and threatened to kill him. Moreover, they once staged his execution: one of the military put a gun to the American’s head and then fired to the side.

The Ministry of Justice notes that the Russian military was charged with three war crimes - illegal detention, torture and inhuman treatment, as well as conspiracy to commit war crimes. The maximum penalty for these crimes is life imprisonment.

The department also writes that this is the first time that an American law has been used to prosecute those who commit war crimes against American citizens abroad.

In turn, “Important Stories” noted that Suren Mkrtchyan was included in the Ukrainian “Peacemaker” base. His card says that he holds the position of deputy chief of staff of a motorized rifle regiment in the 1st Army Corps of the annexed DPR. In the fall of 2022, the Ukrainian Center for Investigative Journalism wrote that Mkrtchyan was involved in the kidnappings and rapes of civilians during the Russian occupation of the left bank of the Dnieper.