Bucha murders: first Russian suspect identified
IRYNA BALACHUK — MONDAY, 2 MAY 2022, 16:20
Prosecutors and police have identified the first suspect involved in the brutal murders of civilians in the city of Bucha near Kyiv: Sergei Kolotsei, a unit commander in Russia's National Guard.
Source: Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova on Facebook
Venediktova's quote: "Bucha's prosecutors and police have established that it was this military officer who killed four unarmed men in Bucha on 18 March."
Details: It has also been established that on 29 March Kolotsei tortured another civilian, forcing him to confess to subversive activities against the Russian army. He took the pro-Ukrainian local resident down to the "basement", where he beat him up using his hands, a machine gun and a knife guard. The man was taken to the "place of execution", where he was shot near the ear in a mock execution.
Venediktova added that one specific perverted way in which the victim was bullied and intimidated was forcing him to smell a dead body.
Based on the collected evidence, the victim’s testimony and facial recognition, the prosecutors of the Bucha District Prosecutor's Office informed Kolotsei that he is suspected of ill-treating civilians and committing other violations of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder (Article 438 Parts 1 and 2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Venediktova urged anyone who recognises the Russian serviceman and has evidence of his involvement in other atrocities to send evidence to the website warcrimes.gov.ua, or to contact the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor's Office: 097-053-04-65, 097-838-31-87 , 050-107-66-75 or the Bucha District Prosecutor's Office: 063-530-69-06.
