The Ukrainian publication Suspilne received materials from a criminal case that the Russian Investigative Committee opened against the leadership of 6th Motorized Rifle Division of the Russian Army.
From the resolution, which the publication has, it follows that the commanders of this division are accused not only of illegally detaining and torturing their own subordinates, but also of murdering at least seven servicemen.
The resolution, to which Suspilne refers, was signed by the investigator for especially important cases of the main military investigative department of the Investigative Committee Sergei Shishov — he previously led the case of Lieutenant Colonel Irek Magasumov, whom a court in the self-proclaimed LPR found guilty of murdering an 18-year-old girl.
To confirm the authenticity of the resolution, journalists spoke with relatives of the killed Russian servicemen, the wife of the major general who is said to have organized the crime, and the mother of one surviving serviceman.
In the spring of 2023, servicemen from units that are part of the 6th Division began to complain about their service conditions: heavy losses, broken equipment, poor gear, and lack of evacuation from the battlefield. In early June, servicemen from the 1307th Regiment recorded a video in which they said that they were treated like «cannon fodder.»
The materials of the criminal case, which Suspilne writes about, say that in May 2023, that is, after the publicity of the problems of the servicemen, the division commander Marat Ospanov ordered the detention and illegal holding of subordinates who «violated military discipline, refused to follow orders, and committed other offenses.»
According to the case materials, the detention Osanov entrusted the military under custody to his deputy for military-political work, 44-year-old Colonel Stanislav Ivanisov.
“Ospanov, with the aim of intimidation, wanting to illegally achieve strict execution of orders and maintenance of military discipline, created an organized group, which included military personnel subordinate to him,” says the Investigative Committee’s ruling, which journalists have.
There are a total of 19 victims in the case, who were kept in basements at different times several housesin the Russian-occupied town of Popasna in the Luhansk region «in conditions of a lack of toilets, sleeping places, limited water and food.» 11 of them managed to free themselves from the basements in early September, when military prosecutors began an investigation.
According to Suspilne, 41-year-old Colonel Yevgeny Malyshko Ospanov «appointed responsible for the murder of servicemen» who, in the commander's opinion, «were not subject to correction.»
There were eight of them. Six were servicemen of the 1307th regiment: captains Nikolai Kozlovsky and Yuri Snitnikov, sergeants Artur Galimov and Igor Kolomiytsev, private Ilya Borisov and corporal Aleksey Aver. The other two were lieutenant of the 1008th motorized rifle regiment Valery Grushetsky and senior lieutenant of the 1486th regiment Artem Fadeyev.
According to Suspilne, only Borisov, a medical instructor born in 2001, survived. The publication claims that in June, Borisov and five detainees from his regiment were released from custody because representatives of the Russian Defense Ministry arrived for a routine inspection of the division. Borisov was immediately sent from the basement to the front lines, where he was wounded.
After the inspection, Colonel Ivanisov, on Ospanov's orders, returned the remaining soldiers to the basement on Koshevoy Street, 39, according to the ruling. The case materials say that they were all tortured: they were kicked, punched, and beaten «with objects and special equipment on the face and body.»
Early in the morning of July 4, seven detainees were taken out of the basement and put into a UAZ Patriot, driven by Warrant Officer Chukanov. Next to him sat Major Boriskin. Colonel Malyshko, Sergeant Timonin and Warrant Officer Mury were in the other car.
Both cars reached the village of Bakhmutskoye in the Donetsk region. There, the military took the detainees to the basement of a house, where Boriskin, Chukanov and Timonin detonated «at least five F-1 hand-held anti-personnel defensive grenades.» According to the investigation, the division's leadership was trying to hide traces of torture. The bodies of the dead, Suspilne writes, were burned along with the UAZ.
Journalists could not find any mentions of this case in the Russian media — only two comments on social networks. In April 2024, under an old post about Ospanov, a user named Irina Kisileva wrote: «And now this scum is behind bars, we are waiting for a verdict for the murder of Russian soldiers, his subordinates. The criminal case was opened on March 22, 2024 in the LPR. We really hope for a fair court decision for all his crimes.» In the chat of one of the propaganda Telegram channels in January 2024, a comment was left about Malyshko's detention.
Journalists found several mentions of killed soldiers on social networks, for example, Valery Grushetsky was searched for by his father in October 2023. In December, the group «Mobilization/Payments and assistance to SVO participants» wrote about the search for Artem Fadeev. Relatives were also looking for Artur Galimov from the city of Uray. His mother Zulfiya told Suspilna that she knew from the human rights ombudsman in the Khanty-Mansiysk district that a criminal case had been opened regarding the illegal detention of military personnel.
On June 21, the wife of commander Marat Ospanov, Irina, told journalists that her husband was “arrested without reason.” “He is in Donetsk. In the psychiatric department of the hospital for examination until July 4. He was detained on March 22. I was also searched. I arrived in Lugansk on April 8 and managed to see him. They gave me a certificate from the emergency hospital that there were beatings when he was brought to the Investigative Committee and held there. They pressured him,” the woman claimed. She was surprised that the press knows about the case, since it is closed.
Copy of the resolution: “Suspilne”