International mercenary served with suspicion notice over torture of civilians in Ukrainian Bucha

What is known about him

The suspect is international criminal Davor Savičić, the commander of the Volki (Wolves) sabotage and reconnaissance unit. The 46-year-old mercenary holds dual citizenship of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia.

He is on the radar of Interpol and Bosnian law enforcement agencies for organizing and joining foreign armed formations, as well as for participating in conflicts during the breakup of Yugoslavia.

In addition, he has been placed under sanctions by the United Kingdom and Ukraine.

According to the investigation, at the end of 2021, he agreed to fight as part of the Russian PMC Redut (Russian private military companies) and began recruiting mercenaries for the Volki unit.

Between February and April 2022, the unit operated as part of Russia’s Vostok military grouping and took part in the occupation of settlements in the Vyshhorod and Bucha districts of the Kyiv region.

According to the Security Service of Ukraine, the suspect and other Russian troops were based in a forested area between the villages of Shybene and Krasnyi Rih in Bucha district.

Torture of civilians

Abuse of a man in Fedorivka

Investigators documented that in the village of Fedorivka, Davor Savičić ordered the detention of a civilian who had been hiding in a shelter during shelling.

Accompanied by about 20 armed Russian soldiers, he forced the 39-year-old man to leave the shelter and strip naked. The victim was then taken into a forest with his hands tied.

According to the investigation, the mercenary tortured the civilian there, beating him with a rifle butt during interrogations in an attempt to force him to give false testimony for Russian propaganda media. Subordinates also tied the man to a tree alongside a grenade with the pin removed.

After failing to obtain the desired testimony, Savičić allegedly ordered a pit to be dug where the victim was held for seven days without food or water while the beatings and abuse continued.

Torture of an ATO participant’s wife

In addition, he is implicated in the torture of the wife of an Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) participant, whom Russian soldiers abducted from her apartment in the urban-type settlement of Ivankiv in the Vyshhorod district.

The woman was held for three days in a van without proper living conditions and was later taken to a field tent for interrogation.

Savičić allegedly threatened her with violence, demanded information about the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and forced her to give interviews for Russian propaganda.

After the liberation of the Kyiv region, investigators discovered her husband’s body in a forest pit where the Russian troops had been based. Authorities are still identifying those responsible for the murder.

Based on the collected evidence, the Security Service of Ukraine has issued Savičić an in absentia notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (war crimes committed by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy).

Other suspicions over torture in Bucha

Earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine issued notices of suspicion to nine Russian servicemen accused of torturing civilians during the temporary occupation of the Bucha district in the Kyiv region in 2022.

Ukraine has also identified the Russian commander allegedly responsible for the killings of civilians in Bucha.

According to investigators, he gave orders, personally participated in the crimes, and supervised the actions of his subordinates, resulting in the deaths of at least 17 civilians.