Ukraine’s Security Service issues notices of suspicion to 2 Russian commanders for attacking civilian facilities

The Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has issued the first notices of suspicion for the shelling of civilian facilities in Ukraine to Colonel General Sergei Kobylash, commander of the Russian Air Force's Long-Range Aerospace Forces, and Admiral Igor Osipov, the former Commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet  [a notice of suspicion is an important initial stage of a pre-trial investigation under Ukrainian criminal procedure law - ed.].

Source: SSU

Quote: "Investigators from the Security Service have collected a substantial evidence base on two representatives of the high command of the Russian Federation, who are responsible for attacking Ukraine’s civilian facilities.

One of them is Colonel General Sergei Kobylash, the Commander of the Russian Air Force’s Long-Range Aerospace Forces. And the other is Admiral Igor Osipov, the former Commander of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation."

Details: Kobylash and Osipov in Ukraine were served notices of suspicion in absentia under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:

• Art. 437.2 (planning, preparation, initiation and waging of an aggressive war);
• Art. 110.3 (trespass against the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine).

The SSU emphasises that these are the first notifications of suspicion that Ukraine has announced specifically for attacks on civilian facilities in Ukraine.

The maximum penalty under the articles is life imprisonment.

In the course of the investigation, investigators from the SSU have found that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Sergei Kobylash has been following instructions from Russia's top military and political leadership regarding the destruction of Ukrainian cities.

"It was on his orders that the Russian invaders carried out massive missile attacks on residential buildings, hospitals and critical infrastructure facilities in various oblasts of Ukraine," the SSU reports.

To carry out air attacks, the Russians use strategic missile carriers Tu-160, and Tu-95MS, as well as long-range missile bombers Tu-22M3, armed with Kh-555, Kh-101, Kh-55 and Kh-22 cruise missiles.

The investigation found that Igor Osipov gave orders for systematic missile strikes from the Black Sea on densely populated Ukrainian settlements between 24 February and 10 August 2022. 

The Russian attacks were carried out with high-precision guided 3M14-Kalibr cruise missiles from Russian warships.

Measures to expose and document crimes were carried out by employees of the Main Investigation Department and the Military Counterintelligence Department of the Security Service under the procedural guidance of the Prosecutor General's Office.

The pre-trial investigation is ongoing.

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