UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Sep. 5 — On Sep. 5, law enforcement identified a 43-year-old Russian soldier, who allegedly took part in looting and torturing locals during the Russian occupation of Kapytolivka village in the Izium district in Mar. 2022, reported the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office

Investigators said the suspect was working alongside another Russian soldier linked to the killing of children’s author Volodymyr Vakulenko. That accomplice is already facing trial.

Volodymyr Vakulenko was a Ukrainian writer, poet, and civic activist. He authored thirteen books and received multiple literary awards. In 2024, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Merit, 3rd Class.

Vakulenko disappeared in Mar. 2022 during the Russian occupation. Later, law enforcement found his remains in a mass grave in Izium, and DNA testing confirmed his identity.

According to investigators, Russian soldiers carried out illegal searches in people’s homes, threatening residents with weapons and forcing them to hand over vehicles, generators, food supplies, and personal belongings. Any resistance was met with violence, intimidation, and death threats.

“Victims were often chosen among those who refused to accept so-called ‘humanitarian aid’ from Russia,” the report says. “Soldiers took food reserves and even livestock — in one case, they forced a local to surrender his elite-breed pigs, slaughter them, and load the meat into a vehicle,” said the Prosecutor’s Office. 

In several cases, Russian troops abducted civilians, held them in basements, and tortured them. According to the regional Prosecutor’s Office, one man had a one-hryvnia coin forced into his mouth and was threatened with execution if he spat it out. He was eventually released after being held in a cellar.

Authorities are currently preparing to issue a warrant for the suspect’s arrest.

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