Security Service identifies Russian general behind strike on Reuters journalists in Kramatorsk
Photo: Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Aleksey Kim (wikipedia.org)
The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has announced that Russian Colonel General Aleksey Kim is suspected of ordering a strike with an Iskander-M ballistic missile on a hotel in Kramatorsk, where journalists from the international Reuters agency were present.
Ukrainian law enforcement authorities reminded that the attack on journalists took place on August 24, 2024.
As a result of the missile strike on the Sapphire Hotel, one Reuters journalist was killed, and five of their colleagues were injured. Five other civilians were also wounded in the attack.
SSU investigators established that Aleksey Kim, who holds the position of Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, signed the directive to carry out the strike on the hotel.
It is noted that the crime was committed by a missile forces unit subordinate to Kim.
The SSU also added that the goal of the Russian attack was to destroy a building that civilians exclusively occupied. This constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law, which prohibits attacks on objects that are not military targets.
As a result, Russian Colonel General Aleksey Kim has been charged under the following articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 437 – waging an aggressive war;
- Part 2 of Article 438 – violation of the laws and customs of war.
Measures are underway to bring the perpetrator to justice, under the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
"Every Russian war criminal will be found and punished," the SSU emphasized.
SSU recently conducted security measures in the center of Kyiv.
Additionally, a Russian general and war criminal responsible for chemical attacks on the Armed Forces of Ukraine was eliminated in Moscow.
