Based on the evidence gathered by the military investigative authorities of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the Supreme Court of the Luhansk People's Republic has sentenced in absentia Lieutenant Colonel Sergey Averyanov, commander of the 42nd Separate Motorized Infantry Battalion (military unit A4472) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He has been found guilty of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 356 (cruel treatment of civilians, use of prohibited means and methods in an armed conflict), Part 3 of Article 30, clauses "a", "e", "zh", and "l" of Part 2 of Article 105 (attempted murder of two or more persons, committed by a group of persons in a manner dangerous to the public, motivated by ideological and political hatred), and Part 2 of Article 167 of the Criminal Code of the RF (intentional damage to someone else’s property in a manner dangerous to the public).

The investigation and the court have established that on February 25, 2022, Averyanov, knowing with certainty that there were no Russian military personnel in the settlement of Trekhizbenka, located just a few kilometers from his headquarters, ordered his subordinates, commanders of the 1st and 2nd mortar batteries Senior Lieutenants Andrey Zamlynsky and Maksim Golovan, to shell the settlement with the aim to intimidate the civilian population not involved in the armed conflict and to destabilize local authorities.

Disregarding the fact that this order contradicted the norms of international humanitarian law, the officers carried out the order, resulting in at least 20 indiscriminate shelling attacks on residential houses with 120-mm and two 82-mm mortars using fragmentation and high-explosive shells.

As a result of those actions, five houses had been damaged, causing significant material damage to their owners. The civilians were in shelters at the time of the shelling, and no one was injured.

The court sentenced Averyanov in absentia to 20 years in a maximum-security penal colony. He has been placed on an international wanted list.

The criminal cases against Zamlynsky and Golovan have been concluded and sent to court for trial.