Law enforcement bodies in Kharkiv region mostly detect crimes related to violations of the law and customs of war, said Oleksandr Filchakov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office, in an interview with ArmyInform.

These are crimes under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the customs of war). In total, the Russian occupiers committed 93 murders, 352 cases of illegal deprivation of freedom, and almost 10,000 violations related to attacks or bombardment of civilian infrastructure in the Kharkiv region.

More than 2,000 thefts of property of Ukrainian citizens by the occupiers – the so-called looting – and 16 cases of rape were registered. In addition, prosecutors found 23 torture chambers where more than 100 Ukrainian civilians were tortured by Russian military personnel.

According to the prosecutor, all the torture rooms in the region have been examined. The torture site in Hoptivka, located several hundred meters from the Ukrainian-Russian border, has not yet been investigated. Staying there poses a danger to prosecutors due to constant hostile shelling from the territory of the Russian Federation.

“The largest place of torture was in Vovchansk on the territory of the former aggregate plant. Not only Ukrainians but also foreign nationals were tortured there. For more than 6 months, the Russians kept seven Sri Lankan citizens in terrible conditions on the plant’s territory, using mental and physical pressure and abusing them,” adds Oleksandr Filchakov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

The Russian invaders also organized mass graves of Ukrainian citizens to conceal the crimes. After the de-occupation process, the bodies of 679 people were exhumed in the region, 451 in Izyum and 105 in other districts of Kharkiv region.

Izium mass graves in Kharkiv Oblast, January 2023 / Photo: Denys Glushko for Gwara Media

631 were civilians, 48 were dead and tortured soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

  • Russian pilot sentenced to 12 years imprisonment for bombing Kharkiv. A Su-34 pilot of the Russian Armed Forces who carried out air strikes on civilian infrastructure was found guilty of violating the laws and customs of war.
  • Threatened to shoot if victims don’t give money: three Russian soldiers to be judged. According to the investigation, in May 2022, during the occupation of Izium in Kharkiv Oblast, three soldiers of the 39th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade belonging to the 68th Army Corps of the Eastern Military District, stopped a car with two civilians.

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