Ukrainian Security Service identifies Russians behind beheading of Ukrainian POW
Photo: The Security Service identified the Russians who ordered the beheading of the prisoner (Getty Images)
Ukraine’s Security Service (SSU) has identified the Russian commanders who ordered the beheading of a captured Ukrainian soldier. Both suspects have been formally charged in absentia, according to the SSU press center.
According to the investigation, the SSU has gathered evidence against two more Russian war criminals involved in the mass execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war in the Donetsk region. The suspects are:
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Shota Karapetyan (callsign Yustas), deputy commander of the 1st Motorized Rifle Battalion of the 394th Motorized Rifle Regiment, 127th Motorized Rifle Division, 5th Combined Arms Army of Russia;
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Dmitry Chikhabakh (callsign Sber), commander of an assault company within the same regiment’s Storm unit.
The SSU determined that on June 17, 2024, these Russian commanders ordered their subordinates to execute a Ukrainian POW, decapitate him, and place the head on the hood of a destroyed armored vehicle. The crime took place during fighting near the village of Staromaiorske in the Volnovakha district.
Both commanders ordered their subordinates not to leave the captured Ukrainian soldiers alive and to kill them with extreme cruelty.
Karapetyan and Chikhabakh have been charged in absentia under Part 1 of Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code (violation of the laws and customs of war).
The SSU stressed that active efforts are ongoing to track down and hold both war criminals accountable.
Executions of Ukrainian POWs
According to Ukraine’s Human Rights Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets, 109 captured Ukrainian soldiers were officially confirmed executed by Russian forces in 2024 alone. In total, 177 such executions have been documented since the full-scale invasion began.
In April, Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office reported that three Ukrainian servicemen were captured near the village of Rozdolne in the Donetsk region. Russian troops executed them using automatic weapons.
