The Kyiv-Sviatoshynskyi District Court of Kyiv Region found 11 servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces guilty of violating the laws and customs of war. This is evidenced by the court ruling of July 24.

Circumstances of war crimes and identification of the convicted

The case concerns soldiers of the 37th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade of the Russian Federation (37 OMSBr, military unit 69647), who were stationed in the village of Motyzhyn, Bucha district, Kyiv region in February-March 2022. Two episodes of civilian murder were documented within the case:

• Shooting of an "Opel Zafira" on February 27, 2022. Near "Dobropark" on the "Motyzhyn — Zhytomyr Highway" road, the occupiers opened fire on a civilian car that had stopped 100 meters from a tank and showed no signs of military affiliation. As a result of the shelling, a father and son were killed, as well as local doctor Serhiy Holovan, who was taking a wounded person to the hospital. Nine Russian soldiers were identified as involved in this crime: Dmitri Galsanov (born 1998), Nikolay Bushuev (born 2001), Valekha Yeminov (born 1990), Gennady Plotnikov (born 1999), Sergey Tikhonkikh (born 1991), Roman Igumnov (born 1998), Anton Burenko (born 1998), Vladislav Matveev (born 1994), and Zakhar Petrov (born 1998).
• The shooting of a "Peugeot 206" on March 3, 2022. On Shevchenko Street in the village of Motyzhyn, two Russian soldiers — Trokhim Ivanov (born 1987) and Alexandr Rybas (born 1984) — along with unidentified military personnel, fired upon a car with a tank that had stopped in front of them. All three people in the car were killed.

Evidence and testimonies of local residents

Evidence of the involvement of the figures in question was obtained thanks to the testimonies of local residents and found enemy documents:

• A member of the local territorial defense heard shots while an "Opel Zafira" was moving, and a few days later examined a damaged Russian armored vehicle found near his home. Inside, he discovered a folder containing documents, including a personnel roster of a military unit.
• Local residents identified Russian soldiers from photographs who had checked their documents and mobile phones during daylight hours or had asked for tools and fuel.
• Witnesses of the second incident noted that 5 minutes before the shots, they were checked by Russian servicemen (including Ivanov and Rybas) in an armored vehicle marked "v-143". Moving towards the direction of the shots, the villagers discovered a shot-up car with three dead occupants.