Russia Launches Criminal Case into Mass Murder of Soldiers by Command

Russian investigators have opened a criminal case into the mass murder of Russian soldiers by their own command during the war in Ukraine.

This was reported by ASTRA.

In March 2024, the Main Military Investigation Department of the Investigative Committee in Luhansk opened a criminal case against the leadership of the 6th Motorized Rifle Division.

This military unit was formed in 2022 and consists mainly of mobilized soldiers. The commanders of this division are accused of torturing their own soldiers and committing massacres against them.

The murder of 7 soldiers was committed in the early morning of July 4, 2023, in the village of Bakhmutske. At that time, the village was still being fought over, and the soldiers from the 6th Division took advantage of this.

They took their fellow soldiers to the basement and threw 5 F-1 grenades there. The survivors of the explosion were killed with a silent PB pistol.

The case lists 19 Russian soldiers as victims. All of them were held at different times in the basements of apartment buildings in the city of Popasna.

According to the command, the soldiers were placed there for refusing to obey orders, where they faced torture involving kicks, punches, and beatings with various objects and special means targeting their faces and bodies. Additionally, the Russian military personnel were denied access to food, water, and hygiene products during this time.

Of the 19 victims, 8 were “saved” by military prosecutors who released the servicemen. Another soldier escaped execution in Bakhmutske because he was wounded.

In total, there are 7 defendants in the criminal case. As ASTRA found out, the case was opened under the articles on abuse of power (parts 3 and 4 of Article 286), illegal deprivation of liberty (part 3 of Article 127) and murder of two or more persons (part 2 of Article 105).

Recently, Militarnyi reported that the Russian Ministry of Defense did not sign contracts with prisoners pardoned for participating in the war in Ukraine—they were recruited to Storm Z units on the basis of “written consent.”

The “special contingent” was enlisted as stormtroopers for six months without the status of volunteers and without insurance payments for death or injury.

Storm Z survivors are no longer issued military ID cards, certificates of injury, or certificates of combat veterans.