SBU accuses Russian commander of giving order to shoot at civilians in Kyiv Oblast

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) reported on Aug. 31 that it had identified another Russian serviceman involved in the massacre of civilians in Kyiv Oblast.

Vadim Ovchinnikov, senior lieutenant and the commander of a reconnaissance platoon, told his subordinates to shoot at a family trying to evacuate from the village of Severynivka near Bucha, according to the SBU.

Ovchinnikov’s unit, part of Russia’s 36th Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District, was reportedly directly involved in capturing Severynivka, Motyzhyn, and Kopyliv in the Bucha district.

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During the month-long occupation, the commander and his subordinates traveled around the settlements in armored vehicles “to intimidate residents,” the SBU wrote.

On one of those raids in early March last year, Ovchinnikov allegedly ordered to open fire at two civilian cars moving towards their vehicle.

The investigation revealed that the shooting had killed a couple and their 15-year-old daughter on the spot, with another daughter aged nine having managed to survive. The family was trying to leave Severynivka for Uman, Cherkasy Oblast, according to the law enforcement agency.

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The Kyiv IndependentIgor Kossov

The SBU charged Ovchinnikov and his five subordinates with violating the laws and customs of war combined with intentional murder in absentia.

“Comprehensive measures are underway to fairly punish Russian war criminals, regardless of their location,” the SBU added.

Bucha, a small city near Kyiv, was occupied by Russian troops shortly after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. After it was liberated, mass graves were discovered, and thousands of war crimes were documented.

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