The US Department of Justice has charged four Russia-linked soldiers for war crimes, accusing them of kidnapping a US citizen from his home in southern Ukraine in April 2022 during the Russian invasion, holding him captive for ten days and subjecting him to beatings and torture, on Wednesday, the 6th of December, reports Reuters.
According to the indictment, during those ten days, the kidnapped US citizen was beaten with fists, feet, and a gun, he was interrogated, tortured, they mocked his execution, he was threatened with death, sexual violence and forced labour.
“Over and over again, he thought he was going to die,”
said Attorney General Merick Garland, according to Reuters. The Attorney General described the charges as a major step towards holding Russia accountable for its actions in the war in Ukraine.
Russia denies involvement in war crimes and deliberately targeting civilians.
The defendants were charged with four offences: one of conspiracy to commit war crimes and three of war crimes – unlawful imprisonment of a protected person, torture and inhuman treatment, according to Reuters.
The defendants in the indictment were commanders Suren Seiranovich Mkrtchyan and Dmitry Budnik, as well as two lower-ranking soldiers identified only by the names Valery and Nazar.
Attorney General Garland stated that these charges mark the first
use of a 1996 federal law, enabling the US to prosecute individuals for war crimes against Americans outside the country.
The defendants, believed to be members of the Russian armed forces or military units linked to the Donetsk People’s Republic (a Russian-controlled region in eastern Ukraine), are not in US custody and are not expected to appear in the US to answer the charges.
The investigation was carried out by the Ministry of Justice’s war crimes team established last year. The Justice Department is also investigating a Palestinian militant group Hamas for the murder of 30 Americans and kidnapping of others in the 7th of October attack, Garland told reporters, reports Reuters.
Read also: Ten people arrested in Nepal for recruiting local youth into the Russian army
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