The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case into the murder of 7 Russian servicemen by their own colleagues on the orders of the command

There are 19 victims, 7 defendants in the case, the division commander is being examined at a psychiatric clinic

ASTRA published a fragment from the decision to initiate the first known criminal case of the mass murder of Russian military personnel by its own command in the war in Ukraine. In March 2024, the Main Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee in Lugansk opened a criminal case against the leadership of the 6th Motorized Rifle Division. This military formation was formed in 2022 and consists mainly of mobilized people. His command is accused of torturing its own military - as well as their mass murder.

In total, there are 7 defendants in the criminal case; the case was initiated under articles of abuse of power, illegal imprisonment and murder of two or more persons. As stated in the document, the murder of 7 military personnel occurred on July 4, 2023 in the village of Bakhmutskoye in the self-proclaimed “DPR.” The military took their colleagues to the basement and threw 5 F-1 grenades there. The survivors of the explosion were finished off with a silent PB pistol. The reason for off-duty executions was refusal to carry out command orders. The victims in the case are 19 Russian soldiers. All of them were held at different times in the basements of apartment buildings in the city of Popasnaya in the “LPR”. There they were subjected to torture: they were beaten “with their feet, fists, and also with various objects and special equipment in the face and body.” The soldiers were also denied food and water. 8 people were “saved” because they were dismissed from service, another military man escaped execution due to injury.

For the first time, a criminal case against the command of the 6th division became known this summer from an investigation by the Ukrainian portal “Suspilne”. The publication confirmed information about the criminal case in conversations with relatives of the murdered and murderers. Among others, Suspilna was able to reach the wife of the commander of the 6th division, Marat Ospanov, whom investigators consider the main organizer of the massacre. This summer, his wife told reporters that Ospanov was being examined at a psychiatric clinic in Lugansk.

Photo: Suspilne