UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Jun. 1 —  Eleven Russian soldiers and two officials from the occupied territories, who are charged with torturing civilians in the Izium district during Russian occupation, will be prosecuted in Kharkiv court, said the press service of the Kharkiv regional Prosecutor’s Office.

The Izium district is in the southeast part of the Kharkiv oblast. Russia partially occupied it at the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, but Ukraine liberated most of it during the Kharkiv counteroffensive.

According to prosecutors, those 11 Russian soldiers serve in the 204th rifle regiment, a lawmaker and a head of filmmakers union from occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Investigation says that the defendants systematically robbed, kidnapped, and illegally detained the Izium district locals, depriving them of food and water in detention. They beat and threatened them with violence. The prosecutors identified seven civilians as having been held captive.

Also, prosecutors said that the defendants recorded the torture on video to make “propagandistic” videos. “They received encouragement and promotion from management,” said the press service of the Prosecutor’s Office.

Defendants, who are charged with torturing civilians in the Izium district / Photo: Kharkiv regional Prosecutor’s Office

Also, prosecutors say the group has murdered a 46-year-old Plast member (the Plast National Scout Organization of Ukraine) who served as an assistant to a member of the Izium City Council on matters of national and patriotic education for youth before the Russian occupation.

Russian soldiers detained the man on Mar. 28, 2022, and beaten him. One of them shot the man in the face. Then, they throw out the body near a railroad crossing.

The defendants will be tried on charges of treason and cruel treatment of civilians — they are wanted by the authorities, the Prosecutor’s Office reports

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