Ukrainian court sentences two "Rosgvardiya" fighters from Dagestan

Two fighters of the "Rosgvardiya" (Russian National Guard) from Dagestan were found guilty by a Ukrainian court of torturing civilians in Zaporozhye and sentenced them in absentia to 12 years of freedom deprivation each.

The verdict was pronounced by the Zavodskoi District Court of Zaporozhye and published by the Ukraine's Unified State Register of Judicial Decisions.

One of the convicts is a native of the Dagestani village of Botayurt; the other was born in the village of Mamedkala. Both served in the Makhachkala OMON (riot police) unit, subordinate to the "Rosgvardiya" branch for Dagestan.

The above court has found that in February 2022, fighters of the Dagestani OMON took control of the city of Vasilievka in the Zaporozhye Region. In March, those accused of violating humanitarian law developed a plan to search and detain patriotic residents who could actively express their pro-Ukrainian position.

On March 26, 2022, one of the convicts kidnapped, on the orders of the other one, the headman of the village of Verkhnyaya Krinitsa from his home, by using violence against him and threatening to kill him. The headman was held until March 31, subjected to physical and psychological violence: tortured with electric shock; sharp metal objects were driven under his nails; and chemical burns were caused by caustic substances. Thus, they tried to force him to cooperate with Russian militaries and provide information about his pro-Ukrainian fellow villagers.

On the same day, three other villagers of Verkhnyaya Krinitsa were kidnapped from their homes, beaten up and tortured with electric shocks, threatening them with the murder of their close relatives. Two of these people were illegally detained until March 29, the third until April 4. In all the cases, the victims were required to provide information about their patriotic fellow countrymen.

*Included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) into the register of foreign agents.