A Russian soldier takes the stand for an execution

[ad_1] Joel Gunter Reporting from Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/11dd/live/3f5f0590-42d3-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/11dd/live/3f5f0590-42d3-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/11dd/live/3f5f0590-42d3-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/11dd/live/3f5f0590-42d3-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/11dd/live/3f5f0590-42d3-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/11dd/live/3f5f0590-42d3-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/11dd/live/3f5f0590-42d3-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/11dd/live/3f5f0590-42d3-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="BBC Dmitriy Kurashov in the dock. He has short hair and is wearing a dark long-sleeved top. Part of a Ukrainian uniform can be seen in front of him." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> BBC Dmitriy Kurashov is the primary Russian soldier to face trial in Ukraine for an alleged battlefield execution

On the frozen frontline within the east of Zaporizhzhia, a Ukrainian soldier surveyed the fallout from a Russian assault. It was the center of January 2024 and the bottom was coated in ice. Two weeks earlier, an 18-strong Russian assault crew had damaged by way of the road and seized three positions, killing 5 Ukrainians and shedding 10 Russians earlier than ceding the skinny stretch of land again to the Ukrainians simply hours later. The three positions that had modified fingers have been every only a few foxholes within the floor – dots on a devastated panorama of craters and shredded bushes.

The Ukrainian soldier filmed as he seemed over the stays of his fallen comrades. "That is Vitas, the small one," he mentioned, utilizing the lifeless man's callsign. He examined one other physique. "A silver ring, that is Grinch," he mentioned. With problem, he turned over one other frozen physique. It was in dangerous situation, however the face was recognisable. The soldier sighed. "What can I discover to cowl you, so that you simply will not get chilly," he mentioned to the lifeless man. He picked up a close-by helmet and positioned it over the broken face. "We have now discovered the Penguin," he mentioned.

A yr later, in January 2025, a Russian soldier was frog-marched down the hall of a rundown native courthouse in Zaporizhzhia flanked by 5 Ukrainian troopers and a big rottweiler skilled on the Russian's scent and straining at its leash to assault him. Dmitriy Kurashov, callsign 'Stalker', was about to go on trial for the alleged battlefield execution of Vitalii Hodniuk, a veteran 41-year-old Ukrainian soldier identified by the callsign 'Penguin'.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/6c44/live/43d96260-476e-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/6c44/live/43d96260-476e-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6c44/live/43d96260-476e-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/6c44/live/43d96260-476e-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/6c44/live/43d96260-476e-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/6c44/live/43d96260-476e-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/6c44/live/43d96260-476e-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/6c44/live/43d96260-476e-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Handout Vitalii Hodniuk stands in uniform in front of a military truck on a snowy street." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Handout Vitalii Hodniuk, a veteran Ukrainian soldier with the callsign 'Penguin', was killed on the frontline

The trial was to be the primary of its sort. In line with Ukrainian authorities, Russian troops have executed at the very least 124 prisoners of battle on the battlefield for the reason that full-scale invasion started, however Kurashov is the primary particular person to be delivered to trial in Ukraine for the crime. His case is considered one of a tiny quantity among the many tens of hundreds of open battle crimes instances the place a suspect has been captured and will be made to face within the dock. Including to the unprecedented nature of the occasion, three members of Kurashov's personal unit had agreed to testify towards him.

Within the brilliant, boxy courtroom, Kurashov was locked in a glass-enclosed dock. Quick in stature, his head usually bowed, he minimize a subdued determine. When he did go searching, he was pressured to swivel his head as a result of he had misplaced one eye to a grenade on the entrance. It was not Kurashov's first time within the dock; he had been jailed twice earlier than in Russia, and was among the many hundreds of prisoners freed by the state to participate within the battle.

The prosecutor learn the costs. Kurashov was accused of capturing Hodniuk execution type because the Ukrainian soldier tried to give up – a violation of the legal guidelines of battle. Kurashov had intially pleaded not responsible, through the pre-trial section, however now in courtroom he switched his plea to responsible. Informally, he maintained his innocence, and was making the swap purely to hurry up the method, he mentioned.

In line with the UN, battlefield executions by Russians have elevated at an alarming fee over the previous yr. In a February report, the UN human rights mission in Ukraine mentioned it had discovered proof of 79 executions by Russian forces since August 2024, in addition to proof of three unlawful killings by Ukraine utilizing first-person drones. The UN additionally mentioned it had discovered at the very least three calls by Russian public officers ordering or approving executions, and in response to Ukraine there's proof of Russian battlefield commanders ordering executions up and down the frontline.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2300/live/a5b2c810-476d-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2300/live/a5b2c810-476d-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2300/live/a5b2c810-476d-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/2300/live/a5b2c810-476d-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2300/live/a5b2c810-476d-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2300/live/a5b2c810-476d-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/2300/live/a5b2c810-476d-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2300/live/a5b2c810-476d-11f0-bbaa-4bc03e0665b7.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Dmitriy Kurashov, who has short dark hair and is wearing a black jumper, stands in the dock with his arms folded, looking down, surrounded by Ukrainian guards." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Kurashov faces as much as life in jail if discovered responsible

The assault on the entrance by Kurashov's unit was to be his first correct operation, only a few weeks after becoming a member of the battle. The unit was a part of "Storm-V", a detachment of the 127th motorised rifle division made up nearly totally of freed prisoners. The Storm-V models have been utilized by Russia as cannon fodder, despatched to stage assaults on the worst components of the frontline. They're a grim echo of comparable models shaped by Stalin, characterised principally by their extraordinarily excessive fee of attrition.

The operation started early on the morning of 6 January 2024 beneath a dense fog. The 18-strong Storm-V crew approached the frontline in two armoured automobiles and a tank and the assault started. Kurashov was directed in direction of the small cluster of foxholes the place Hodniuk and others have been hiding, following a Russian artillery barrage.

That is the place Kurashov's account diverges from that of the prosecution and the Russian troopers testifying towards him. They are saying Kurashov known as right into a foxhole for these inside to give up and Hodniuk emerged unarmed and kneeled on the bottom, just for Kurashov to shoot him with a burst from his AK-47. Kurashov says that it was not him who fired the photographs however one other Russian, a medic with callsign "Sedoy", who was later killed.

The Russians couldn't maintain the place for lengthy. Overpowered by Ukrainian forces simply hours later, Kurashov and the opposite survivors crawled out of the foxholes and surrendered. They have been marched away from the entrance to a Ukrainian armoured automobile and brought as prisoners of battle. Ukrainian troopers who noticed Hodniuk's physique instructed the nation's state safety service, the SBU, that it lay face down with no weapon close by.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/8907/live/030ed6d0-42ea-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/8907/live/030ed6d0-42ea-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8907/live/030ed6d0-42ea-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/8907/live/030ed6d0-42ea-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/8907/live/030ed6d0-42ea-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/8907/live/030ed6d0-42ea-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/8907/live/030ed6d0-42ea-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/8907/live/030ed6d0-42ea-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="The three frontline foxholes dug in the ground and covered with sticks as seen by a Ukrainian drone filming shortly after the operation." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> The three frontline foxholes the place Vitalii Hodniuk was killed, as seen by a Ukrainian drone filming shortly after the operation

The SBU couldn't entry the scene, as a result of it was too near the contact line, however the company started what would grow to be an in depth distant investigation. At an SBU location in Zaporizhzhia final month, the officer in cost – who spoke on situation of anonymity due to his work within the safety service – drew a map of the scene and defined how they put Kurashov within the dock.

"Step one was interrogating the eight prisoners of battle," he mentioned. "They have been questioned as witnesses and later their identities have been absolutely confirmed by way of social networks, cellphones, and partial radio intercepts that preceded the occasion. Your entire unit in that sector was tracked."

Initially, there have been two suspected executions. One other Ukrainian, callsign 'Grinch', had been overwhelmed to demise with a shovel, one witness mentioned. However the SBU could not show it. "The polygraph did not verify the data and when the our bodies have been ultimately recovered from the battlefield, none of them had such accidents," the investigator mentioned. "My opinion, after inspecting all of the information, is that this was made up."

It was, he mentioned, an instance of Ukraine's potential to analyze and prosecute battle crimes impartially, regardless of being the sufferer and beneath an ongoing state of battle from the aggressor. "Look, we've got one suspect on trial for an execution," the SBU investigator mentioned, referring to Kurashov. "I signed it and despatched it to courtroom as a result of we have gathered sufficient proof that factors to guilt. If our purpose was merely to suspect anybody and ship them to courtroom we'd have ten prisoners passing by way of day by day."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/5b12/live/b9dedb30-42d6-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/5b12/live/b9dedb30-42d6-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5b12/live/b9dedb30-42d6-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/5b12/live/b9dedb30-42d6-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/5b12/live/b9dedb30-42d6-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/5b12/live/b9dedb30-42d6-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/5b12/live/b9dedb30-42d6-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/5b12/live/b9dedb30-42d6-11f0-b6e6-4ddb91039da1.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A Ukrainian soldier gives evidence on a television screen above a bench where three judges - two women and a man - are sitting " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> With no specialist battle crimes courtroom in Ukraine, the trial is uncharted territory for the three judges

The seriousness with which Ukraine is treating this felony prosecution is clear. The SBU investigation produced greater than 2,000 pages of proof. Every of the witnesses was put by way of filmed reconstructions of the occasion on a Ukrainian military capturing vary. In courtroom, all efforts have been made by the prosecutor and the judges to make sure that Kurashov understands his rights, that he can perceive his interpreter, and is given the chance to cross look at witnesses towards him – a possibility he has to date declined. (Kurashov's state-appointed lawyer declined to talk to the BBC. She has spoken solely briefly in courtroom, on administrative issues and to make clear some descriptions of the occasion by witnesses.)

The three Russian witnesses all testified on the primary day of Kurashov's trial – three former prisoners who like Kurashov had gambled on surviving the battle to achieve their freedom. One had been serving 25 years to life for killing two drug sellers, one other 9 years for grievous bodily hurt for killing a person with a brick in a struggle, a 3rd eight years, additionally for grievous bodily hurt.

They gave proof by way of video hyperlink from an adjoining courtroom, so that they may very well be locked in their very own dock. Dmitry Zuev, 44, was to be the important thing witness. He instructed the courtroom that he noticed Kurashov name for the Ukrainians to return out of the foxhole and give up, after which Hodniuk emerged and knelt together with his fingers up. Then there have been extra gunshots and explosions, Zuev mentioned, and he noticed Hodniuk fall face down into the mud. Zuev additionally instructed the courtroom that he personally knew the medic, Sedoy, who Kurashov has accused of the killing, and Sedoy was not there.

Oleg Zamyatin, 54, testified that Hodniuk was not holding a gun when he emerged from the foxhole. Zamyatin didn't see Kurashov hearth the alleged photographs, he mentioned, as a result of there have been explosions on the identical second.

"However I can say that it was him," Zamyatin instructed the courtroom. "As a result of there was nobody else at that spot besides him."

Konstantin Zelenin, 41, the commander of Kurashov's small assault group, instructed the courtroom he was hiding in a crater when he noticed Hodniuk exit the foxhole on the proper facet together with his fingers up.

"Then, only a break up second later, because the shelling started once more, I heard a burst from an computerized rifle," Zelenin mentioned.

"On the proper facet was Stalker, and he was there alone."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/4236/live/c7255d20-42d4-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/4236/live/c7255d20-42d4-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4236/live/c7255d20-42d4-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/4236/live/c7255d20-42d4-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/4236/live/c7255d20-42d4-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/4236/live/c7255d20-42d4-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/4236/live/c7255d20-42d4-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4236/live/c7255d20-42d4-11f0-bace-e1270fc31f5e.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Dmitriy Kurashov, who has short hair and one eye closed, sits in front of a plain wall, looking up." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Kurashov instructed the BBC he was instructed "to not take prisoners"

Within the dock, Kurashov sat largely mute as his former unit mates testified towards him, talking solely sometimes to his lawyer by way of a slim hole within the enclosure's door. It isn't clear but if he'll testify on his personal behalf. The day after considered one of his hearings, he agreed to speak to the BBC about how he had ended up on trial in Ukraine.

The interview was co-ordinated by the SBU and carried out at a derelict constructing in Zaporizhzhia getting used as a type of secure home by the service, which confirmed the essential information of Kurashov's life. Kurashov appeared in good situation and mentioned he had agreed freely to participate. The lead decide in his case permitted the interview, for which an SBU press officer was current a number of the time. Kurashov's remarks to the BBC is not going to be admissible in courtroom.

His journey to that depressing stretch of entrance the place Hodniuk died – to turning into Stalker – started in an orphanage in Gremyachinsk, a decayed previous coal city a couple of thousand miles from Moscow on the best way to Siberia. Orphaned at delivery, Kurashov was raised in a bunch house. As a young person, he acquired right into a struggle with a police officer and was imprisoned for assault. He served 4 years, however on his launch he had no household, pals or place to reside, so he turned a vagrant. He started robbing summer time homes and outlets for meals and cash, he mentioned, leading to one other imprisonment, this time in a distant penal colony alongside males serving life sentences for the a number of the most brutal crimes.

Six months into that sentence, representatives from the Russian army got here to the penal colony and instructed the convicts they'd a possibility to show a brand new web page of their lives. Kurashov nonetheless had 5 years to serve. "They instructed us you possibly can have a clear slate, grow to be a clear particular person," he mentioned. "Simply signal this contract and go."

"Go" meant to the "particular army operation" in Ukraine. Kurashov knew little about it, he mentioned, however he thought something was higher than 5 extra years within the penal colony or being turned out into the streets on the finish of his sentence. So he signed, and was taken instantly to a coaching camp in occupied territory in Ukraine.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/807c/live/840cd840-4777-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/807c/live/840cd840-4777-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/807c/live/840cd840-4777-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/807c/live/840cd840-4777-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/807c/live/840cd840-4777-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/807c/live/840cd840-4777-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/807c/live/840cd840-4777-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/807c/live/840cd840-4777-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="A drone view of the area of the frontline assaulted by Kurashov and his unit, in the eastern oblast of Zaporizhzhia." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> A drone view of the realm of the frontline assaulted by Kurashov and his unit, within the japanese oblast of Zaporizhzhia

Kurashov described his unit as made up totally of "individuals who had been pushed down by life and rejected by society, who have been outdoors of society". They got 21 days' coaching, he mentioned, throughout which they have been drunk nearly on a regular basis. "They didn't wish to research or prepare," he recalled. "All of them mentioned they have been simply there to die."

There was no coaching on the Geneva Conference, to which Russia and Ukraine are each signatories, and which prohibits the killing of people that have surrendered or now not pose a menace. In actual fact, the trainers instructed them the other, Kurashov mentioned. "Those who taught us the best way to take positions instructed us to not take any prisoners," he mentioned. His description matches accounts from his unit mates, who instructed Ukrainian investigators they have been instructed to execute prisoners and throw grenades into dugouts even when the enemy had surrendered.

It additionally matches accounts from different Russian prisoners of battle. "I do not recall coaching on worldwide humanitarian regulation," a Russian POW instructed the UN lately. "Throughout our army coaching and later, commanders instructed us to not take [Ukrainian soldiers] as prisoners of battle. It's logistically cumbersome."

In line with Kurashov, the unit have been instructed they might be finishing up logistical operations like digging trenches, however as a substitute discovered themselves headed instantly for battle. Throughout the transient assault on the Ukrainian place, Kurashov's impression was not considered one of an ready army unit at battle. "What I noticed was individuals who simply laid down and died," he mentioned. Inside hours, 10 of the 18-strong assault crew have been lifeless and the remaining eight have been in captivity.

Inside a fortnight, the incident had grow to be considered one of Ukraine's many hundreds of battle crimes instances. Ukraine has no specialist battle crimes courts, so the instances usually fall to whichever courtroom is native to the offence. On this case, the Zavodskyi District in Zaporizhzhia.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/d33e/live/57273210-493b-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/d33e/live/57273210-493b-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d33e/live/57273210-493b-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/d33e/live/57273210-493b-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/d33e/live/57273210-493b-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/d33e/live/57273210-493b-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/d33e/live/57273210-493b-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/d33e/live/57273210-493b-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Local prosecutor Mykyta Manevskyi, who is wearing jeans, a blue suit jacket and yellow checked shirt, sits on a chair in a media room in the district prosecutor's office." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Mykyta Manevskyi is prosecuting his first execution case

Previous to the complete scale invasion, 32-year-old prosecutor Mykyta Manevskyi had taken on a variety of civil crimes like theft, vandalism and fraud, plus two homicide instances, however by no means a battle crime. "Once you're working with an abnormal homicide case, it has difficulties however it's fairly easy," Manevskyi mentioned. "You realize the place the homicide befell, you possibly can gather DNA and fingerprints, yow will discover the homicide weapon. You may have nearly rapid entry to the physique. You may conduct forensic checks."

On this case, Manevskyi's homicide scene was on the contact line. "We couldn't even extract the physique for 2 months," he mentioned. "It made it tough to carry out any type of forensic examination. The physique was too lengthy beneath the solar, the rain and snow, and it was harmed by artillery strikes."

That made it tough to establish something concrete in regards to the nature of the photographs that killed Hodniuk. "This isn't the extent of element, sadly, that we'd like when investigating a homicide," Manevskyi mentioned. "So we needed to focus extra on working with the witnesses we had."

In actual fact, the prosecution is relying nearly completely on the testimony of the Russian troopers. There aren't any different eyewitnesses, no drone footage of the particular occasion and the bodily proof is circumstantial, a lot of it badly degraded by the battlefield situations which endured for weeks earlier than the our bodies may very well be recovered.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/2438/live/60f5a030-42d6-11f0-835b-310c7b938e84.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/2438/live/60f5a030-42d6-11f0-835b-310c7b938e84.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2438/live/60f5a030-42d6-11f0-835b-310c7b938e84.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/2438/live/60f5a030-42d6-11f0-835b-310c7b938e84.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/2438/live/60f5a030-42d6-11f0-835b-310c7b938e84.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/2438/live/60f5a030-42d6-11f0-835b-310c7b938e84.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/2438/live/60f5a030-42d6-11f0-835b-310c7b938e84.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/2438/live/60f5a030-42d6-11f0-835b-310c7b938e84.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="The Zavodskyi District court house. There are trees in front of the plain building which has a Ukrainian flag flying" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Warfare crimes are being tried at abnormal native courts just like the Zavodskyi District Courthouse, the place Kurashov's case is being heard

However the testimony isn't with out its problems. The witnesses are all POWs, being held by the nation prosecuting the case. They have been every interrogated as much as 10 occasions by the Ukrainian state safety service, throughout which period a few of their tales developed. One bore a grudge towards Kurashov from their time collectively in coaching, he instructed investigators. One other mentioned he resented the defendant for, in his view, getting them caught.

"It's a tough space," mentioned Sergey Vasiliev, a professor of worldwide regulation on the Open College of the Netherlands. "POWs are a very weak class of witnesses, any proof they provide ought to be taken with a grain of salt." There was nothing inherently unsuitable with POWs testifying, Vasiliev mentioned, however varied elements may have affected their choice to look for the prosecution. "Perhaps they're anticipating higher remedy in Ukrainian custody, perhaps they anticipate to be prioritised in a prisoner swap," he mentioned. "They might have varied incentives to lie."

Kurashov maintains his story in regards to the medic, Sedoy. He instructed the BBC he had pleaded responsible as a result of he believed the earlier the trial was over the earlier he may very well be exchanged again to Russia.

But when Kurashov is discovered responsible, he's now not a prisoner of battle. He's merely a prisoner in Ukraine's civil authorized system. Yuriy Belousov, the top of the battle crimes division of Ukraine's Workplace of the Prosecutor Normal, instructed the BBC that Russian troopers convicted of battle crimes would go to jail in Ukraine and keep there. "We prosecute on behalf of the victims and their kin and they need to really feel justice has been carried out," Belousov mentioned.

Ultimately, it might not be that straightforward. Russia has captured many hundreds of civilians throughout its full scale invasion of Ukraine and is successfully holding them hostage in Russian prisons. If the Kremlin decides it needs Kurashov again, it might have leverage to get him.

"That's much less of a authorized and extra of an moral situation," Belousov mentioned. "If, as an example, 100 individuals could be supplied to trade for this one, then sure perhaps. It's our obligation to prosecute on behalf of victims, however it is usually our obligation to avoid wasting our individuals who have been saved in Russia."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/b6c4/live/16650820-476e-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/b6c4/live/16650820-476e-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/b6c4/live/16650820-476e-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/b6c4/live/16650820-476e-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/b6c4/live/16650820-476e-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/b6c4/live/16650820-476e-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/b6c4/live/16650820-476e-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/b6c4/live/16650820-476e-11f0-9471-e380f647874e.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Dmitriy Kurashov, who has short hair and is wearing a dark top, sits in the dock watched over by a Ukrainian guard." class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Three of Dmitriy Kurashov's former unit mates testified towards him

Belousov and his colleagues are aiming at greater fish than Kurashov. Their purpose for this yr and subsequent is to deliver instances towards center and better stage Russian command, he mentioned. In line with the testimony from the captured Russians in Kurashov's unit, their senior commander issued an order immediately earlier than the assault that no prisoners ought to be taken.

In line with Belousov, related proof has been discovered up and down the frontline. Grim video proof, generally shared on Russian social media, seems to bear that out. Russia has in flip accused Ukrainian troops of extra-judicial killings, and Ukraine has launched a number of investigations into its personal forces (the precise quantity is unclear). However the variety of allegations towards Russia far outweighs that towards Ukraine. Russia has beforehand denied committing battle crimes within the battle.

The UN has additionally documented a number of instances of Russian public figures calling for executions. Final July, after Ukraine's Azov Brigade posted a social media video displaying considered one of its members capturing a Russian soldier in a dugout, the deputy head of Russia's Safety Council, Dmitry Medvedev, known as for "complete executions" of Ukrainian servicemen.

"No phrases about mercy. No humanity. No pardon. They haven't any proper to life. Execute, execute and execute," Medvedev wrote on the Telegram social media platform.

Medvedev's phrases is not going to price him something. As an alternative they run downhill till they attain the extent of Vitalii Hodniuk, Dmitry Kurashov, and all the opposite Russian and Ukrainian males killing one another in service of the battle's obscure targets. On this case, a kind of males stands accused of breaking the legal guidelines of the killing he had been despatched to do – legal guidelines he could effectively have been ordered to ignore.

If discovered responsible, Kurashov faces as much as life in jail. On the finish of his dialog with the BBC, he mentioned that he had no actual imaginative and prescient for the long run, apart from a need to return to Russia. "A minimum of I'll have a incapacity," he mentioned, referring to the lack of his eye, and the anticipated advantages it will draw. "I will not should be a vagrant anymore."

Vitalii Hodniuk can not return house, after all. It was two months earlier than his physique may even be recovered. His household didn't wish to communicate publicly about his passing, however they did help within the SBU in its investigation. Hodniuk's report reveals that he was an skilled soldier who defended Ukraine towards Russian-backed forces from 2015 to 2020 and joined as much as struggle once more in 2022.

Final Might, six months after he died, the Penguin was introduced again to his village to be buried. On a brilliant morning, only a stone's throw from the place he grew up and went to highschool, individuals lined the road on their knees to observe his coffin cross by.