Ukraine identified commander of Russian artillery regiment who ordered to shell peaceful Kherson

Ukrainian law enforcement officers have identified another invader involved in the massive shelling of Kherson and the killing of civilians. 

Source: Security Service of Ukraine; Prosecutor’s Office in Kherson Oblast; State Border Guard Service of Ukraine

Details: The criminal appeared to be Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Zharkikh, the commander of the 8th Separate Artillery Regiment of the 22nd Army Corps of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

On 24 December 2022, the occupier ordered a fire attack on the central part of Kherson from BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket systems based on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro River.

The Russians then hit residential buildings, shops, a hospital and a humanitarian aid distribution point in the central part of Kherson.

As a result of the shelling, 11 civilians were killed and 64 others were injured. Most of the victims were women and the elderly.

Shortly afterward, Zharkikh was invited to the Kremlin, where he was honoured for terrorising the civilian population of Ukraine, as noted by the Security Service of Ukraine.

According to the investigation, the war criminal took an active part in the seizure of Crimea in 2014. Later, his regiment began to be deployed in the temporarily occupied territory of the Ukrainian peninsula.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, the units subordinate to Zharkikh were deployed to the southern front.

Based on the collected evidence, the Security Service of Ukraine investigators have served Zharkikh with a notice of suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war.

Evidence is currently being collected on the involvement of the Russian commander and his subordinates in other shelling of Kherson and the oblast, which took the lives of civilians and caused other grave consequences, as stated by the prosecutor's office.

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