Russian officer accused of Bucha killings to be tried posthumously

Ukraine’s SBU security service has completed the pre-trial investigation into the murder of four civilians in Bucha by Russian troops, SBU’s press service told public broadcaster Suspilne on March 22.

One of the suspects is Lt. Col. Aleksander Dosyagayev, who has been killed in the war in mid-2022. Russian media reported he died in Vasylivka, Zaporizhzhia Oblast. He was posthumously awarded the Hero of Russia title by the Kremlin. A Russian school was also renamed in Dosyagayev's honor.

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The suspected war crime was committed by invading Russian troops on March 4, 2022, in Bucha, killing Anastasia Yalanska, Maksym Kuzmenko, Serhiy Ustymenko, and Volodymyr Asaulov.

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The investigation found that the civilians were shot by soldiers of the 2nd Battalion of the 104th Guards Air Assault Regiment of the Russian Federation under Dosyagayev’s command.

Read also: Two Russians were notified of suspicion after killing civilian in Bucha

During the investigation, Ukrainian special services found that the lieutenant colonel had ordered his subordinates to commit the premeditated murders.

Suspilne reported that on March 4, 2022, the four civilians left Kyiv to bring aid to an animal shelter and visit Ustymenko’s parents in Bucha. That morning, Russian soldiers shot them near their parents' house on Kyivo-Myrotska Street in the town. The Russians also killed Ustymenko's neighbor Volodymyr Asaulov, who came out onto the road after noticing a car burning in front of his house. He wanted to help the driver.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine