The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office filed an indictment with the court against 13 individuals for war crimes of pillage, inhuman treatment, torture, unlawful detention and killing committed during the occupation of Izium, Kharkiv region. The Mobile Justice Team North (MJT North) at Global Rights Compliance (GRC) supported the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office in this case by reviewing the evidence in the case file and the legal classifications contained in the notices of suspicion.
The defendants in this case are eleven servicemen of the 1st Battalion of the 204th Rifle Regiment of the “LPR”’s Mobilisation Reserve. Among them are Denys Levin, Mykyta Vlasov, Mykhailo Holubovych, Artem Dychenko, Pylyp Kobtsev, Kostiantyn Lopatin, Danylo Taran, Serhii Rieznik, Ihor Khabiuk, Serhii Shulhin, and Aleksandr Kasaurov. The other two defendants are Denys Miroshnichenko, a deputy of the so-called ‘Luhansk People’s Republic’, and Roman Razum, ‘head of the ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ Union of Cinematographers’.
According to the indictment, following the occupation of Izium in 2022, the accused, acting pursuant to a prior conspiracy, repeatedly searched houses of local residents, appropriated their property, and unlawfully arrested and detained civilians. Some victims were detained in inhuman conditions.
During the searches, the accused threatened civilians with firearms and made death threats. They subjected victims to prolonged beatings and mock executions to punish them, to obtain information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the affluent residents in Izium, or the storage of valuables, to obtain a confession regarding their affiliation, or to force them to join the occupying power. One of the victims, a member of ‘Plast’ and an assistant to a councillor of the Izium City Council, was shot.
The prosecutors charge the accused with cruel treatment of the civilian population and other violations of laws and customs of war under Articles 28(2) and 438(1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Denys Levin is also charged with willful killing under Article 438(2). All the accused, except Kasaurov, are charged with state treason under Article 111(1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Following the filing of the indictments with the court, in absentia hearings will begin.
Izium in the Kharkiv region was under Russian control from early April until 10 September 2022. After the city’s liberation, Ukrainian investigators found a mass grave containing more than 400 bodies in the nearby forest. Multiple detention sites were uncovered where local residents had been detained and tortured. Izium was also affected by Russian strikes, leaving the city centre heavily damaged.
“This indictment reflects the continued efforts of Ukrainian prosecutors, in cooperation with international experts, including Global Rights Compliance, to ensure accountability for crimes committed during the Russian occupation of the Kharkiv region. In the meantime, we continue working to advance other cases concerning detention and torture sites in Izium. Taken together, these cases help reveal clear patterns of criminal conduct by Russian forces in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” said Spartak Borysenko, the head of the Unitfor Combating Crimes Committed in the Context of Armed Conflict of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
“GRC continues to support regional war crimes prosecutors across Ukraine in building strong and legally sound cases concerning international crimes. The crimes addressed in this case represent only a fraction of the broader pattern of abuses committed during the occupation of Izium. Through this work, we seek to strengthen accountability efforts and support justice for crimes committed in the region,” –emphasised Dušan Jovanović, MJT North Lead at Global Rights Compliance.
GRC MJTs operate as a field component of the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine (ACA). The ACA is a multilateral initiative established by the United Kingdom, the European Union, and the United States to support and assist Ukrainian law enforcement and prosecutors in investigating and prosecuting international crimes committed during the full-scale war.