UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Oct. 14 – The man who is suspected of killing five Ukrainian servicemen in Kharkiv district has been found and detained in Kharkiv, Suspilne Kharkiv, Ukrainian media outlet, reported. Further details have not yet been released.

The shooting occurred on Oct. 13, when an unidentified person in civilian clothing approached a building where five servicemen from Ukraine’s 72nd separate mechanized brigade were stationed and opened fire from an automatic weapon, local police and the Prosecutor’s Office reported. He then left the building and fled in an unknown direction. Five defenders sustained fatal injuries of gunshot wounds

According to Ukraine’s Military Law Enforcement Service the search involved military law enforcement officers, military intelligence, National Police investigators and the Security Service of Ukraine. The operation also included the Scorpion rapid response unit of the Kharkiv Territorial Military Law Enforcement Department and its search unit.

The 72nd Military unit’s command said that the killed soldiers were friendly, disciplined, and lawful. 

One theory links the shooting to the escape of two Russian POWs from a detention, according to Suspilne Kharkiv, a Ukrainian media outlet, citing their own sources in police. 

Investigators are also examining the possibility that the suspect was part of a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group, although the Military Law Enforcement Service said this theory has not yet been confirmed.

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  • Unknown shooter, who could be escaped Russian POW, kills 5 Ukrainian soldiers in Kharkiv oblast

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