Russian POW Reportedly Escapes in Kharkiv Oblast, Kills 5 Ukrainian Soldiers
Ukraine’s security service says the suspect was detained a day later and faces life imprisonment after investigators linked him to the killings.
- On Tuesday, Oct. 13, five unarmed service members of Ukraine's 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade were killed in a residential building in Kharkiv Oblast; the Kharkiv District Prosecutor's Office opened a pre-trial murder investigation.
- The Security Service of Ukraine identified the suspect as 36-year-old Leonid Ryzhikov, a Russian soldier from the 2nd Battalion of Russia's 1009th Motorized Rifle Regiment, charging him with war crimes under Article 438 of the Criminal Code.
- After stealing civilian clothes and killing a 60-year-old civilian, Ryzhikov allegedly attacked the soldiers; law enforcement detained him in Kharkiv's Saltivskyi district on Oct. 14 and recovered the AK-74 rifle used in the killings.
- While early reports suggested the gunman was an escaped prisoner of war, the SBU clarified that Ryzhikov fled his own unit after coming under Ukrainian fire, noting victims were protected under the Geneva Convention.
- Human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets reported that Russia executed at least 337 captured Ukrainian soldiers as of late 2025, providing context for this ongoing investigation into alleged war crimes.
60 Articles
60 Articles
Ukraine Accuses Captured Russian Soldier of Executing Five Unarmed Troops, Killing Civilian
Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has charged a captured Russian soldier with killing five unarmed Ukrainian servicemen and a civilian, according to the Security Service of Ukraine on October 15.
Five Ukrainian soldiers have been shot near Kharkiv. A suspected Russian soldier has been arrested. Meanwhile, both sides continue to attack critical infrastructure.
A Russian soldier, a member of a reconnaissance group that had infiltrated a village in the Kharkiv region, was captured after killing 5 Ukrainian soldiers and possibly a civilian. The post Russian soldier arrested after killing 5 Ukrainian drone operators in Kharkiv appeared first on in.gr.
The Special Forces detained the suspect less than 24 hours in Kharkiv province, detained a Russian military suspect for the murder of five Ukrainian soldiers and a civilian man, reported by RBK-Ukraine with reference to the Office of the Procurator-General, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Security Service of Ukraine; the crime occurred on 13 October in Kharkiv district; the armed intruder entered a private house where soldiers of the 72…
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cedarnews.netRussia is attacking Ukrainian civilians all over the country. In the West, several people are killed by a fire triggered by a drone. In Kharkiv, soldiers are also shot in a residential building.
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