Prosecutor General's Office confirms it contacted Russian soldier and now studies information provided by him

The Prosecutor General's Office has been investigating information received from former Russian soldier Ihor Salikov, who expressed his desire to testify in the International Criminal Court (ICC) about Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.

Source: Yurii Bielousov, Chief of the Ukrainian Prosecutor General's Department for Combating Crimes Committed during Armed Conflicts, in the broadcast by Radio Svoboda (Liberty)

Quote: "Yes, I confirm that the Prosecutor General's Office has been studying for over half a year the person who has provided us with testimony about Russia's actions, starting in 2013, in preparation for an open invasion and its peculiarities.

In addition, he gave important testimony, some of which has been confirmed, related to the large-scale invasion that started on 24 February 2022. He reported certain war crimes, including those we are investigating and those that have been confirmed.

We find it hard now to say something about all the information this person gives us. This needs to be verified as part of the investigation. But we have checked some and confirmed it."

Details: Bielousov said they managed to confirm the killing of a civilian in Kyiv Oblast using the information provided by Salikov.

"We have checked this information. It has been confirmed," the Prosecutor General's Office chief added.

The Prosecutor General's Office did not specify how exactly this cooperation began. However, they noted that they believe the information provided by the Russian fighter will be valuable and will help the ICC establish the circumstances of the war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.

Previously, journalists of the Radio Svoboda projects Systema and Skhemy in the investigation Redut trick, which is a part of a large-scale investigation of the activities of the so-called Russian Redut Private Military Company (PMC), found out that the former Russian serviceman Igor Salikov, who appealed to the ICC with a statement about his readiness to testify about the Russian army’s crimes, is one of the co-founders of the Russian organisation that started this PMC.

Background:

• Igor Salikov, a 60-year-old former Russian intelligence colonel who was involved in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, fled to the Netherlands and expressed his desire to testify before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
• Salikov claims that at first he served 25 years in the Russian army, then served in the Wagner Private Military Company and fought in Syria and several African countries on its side. He was also involved in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, first in 2014 and then in 2022.
• He wrote a letter to the ICC in which he confessed his involvement in the annexation of Crimea and the activity of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), mainly falsifying the results of the sham referendum. 

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