DOJ brings first battle crimes prices towards Russians accused of torturing U.S. citizen in Ukraine
In a historic transfer, the Justice Department on Wednesday unsealed an indictment accusing 4 Russian nationals of battle crimes for torturing an American in Ukraine following Moscow’s invasion final 12 months.
The prices, unsealed in a Richmond, Virginia, federal courtroom, mark the primary time the Justice Department has filed prices beneath the U.S. battle crimes statute.
Suren Seiranovich Mkrtchyan, Dmitry Budnik and two others whose first names are Valerii and Nazar, with final names unknown, are charged with torture, mistreatment and illegal confinement of an American citizen. All three prices are battle crimes, and the defendants every face one rely of conspiracy to commit a battle crime.
All 4 of the Russians are at massive with little probability Moscow would flip them over to the U.S. to face trial. The prices replicate an effort by the Justice Department to “name and shame” these it believes have dedicated wrongdoing.
If the defendants do wind up in a U.S. courtroom, they face a most sentence of life in jail.
“As the world has witnessed the horrors of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, so has the United States Department of Justice,” Attorney General Merrick Garland stated in a press release. “That is why the Justice Department has filed the first-ever charges under the U.S. war crimes statute against four Russia-affiliated military personnel for heinous crimes against an American citizen.”
The indictment alleges that the 4 kidnapped the unnamed American from his residence in Mylove, Ukraine, in April 2022. The defendants allegedly interrogated, detained, beat and tortured the sufferer, federal prosecutors stated.
After a mock execution, the sufferer was “forced to perform manual labor, such as digging trenches on behalf of the Russian armed forces and/or [Donetsk People’s Republic] military units,” the indictment alleges.
In an interview with U.S. officers final 12 months, the American stated Russian troopers stripped him bare, threw him on the bottom, tied his fingers behind his again and beat him, federal prosecutors stated.
After the beating, the 4 defendants took the American to a Russian navy compound and held him for 10 days, in keeping with the indictment.
