The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation continues to investigate the criminal case against the commander of the 91st movable blocking detachment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Major Vyacheslav Kharitonenko, and contract servicemen subordinate to him. These persons are accused of committing a crime under Part 1, Article 356 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (ill-treatment of the civilian population, the use of prohibited means and methods in an armed conflict).
It has been established that, on the orders of Kharitonenko, the servicemen of the specified unit carried out mining of 45 km of the coastline, as well as the coastal waters of the Sea of Azov in Mangushsky Raion of the Donetsk People’s Republic. The local population was not warned about the performed operations As a result, a fishing boat was blown up by mines and sank, four sailors were killed; an explosion of a mine killed a local resident and her grandson on the beach.
Investigators of the Investigative Committee have established the location of the said military unit. During the inspection, service documentation was identified and confiscated, and the site for loading mines into a special mining vehicle “Amphibian” was established. In addition to a large number of empty boxes intended for storing mines, 20 unused mines were found, each containing about 10 kg of explosive, as well as 5 fuses for them. With the participation of specialists, the explosive objects were destroyed in accordance with the established procedures.
At the moment, the location of the fishing vessel blown up by a mine has been established. Russian sappers who cleared mines planted by Ukrainian servicemen have been interrogated.
Kharitonenko has been put on the federal and international wanted list; the court chose a measure of restraint against him in the form of detention (in absentia).
The preliminary investigation of the criminal case is ongoing.
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