U.S. charges Russian soldiers with war crimes for allegedly torturing American in Ukraine

Washington — Federal prosecutors in the U.S. charged four Russian soldiers with war crimes for allegedly abducting and torturing an American citizen in Ukraine shortly after Russia’s invasion, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

The soldiers — two commanding officers and two lower-ranking soldiers — were charged with three war crimes for their alleged mistreatment of an American living in Ukraine. The commanding officers are identified as Suren Seiranovich Mkrtchyan and Dmitry Budnik, while the two other soldiers are known only by their first names, Valerii and Nazar.

Each of the defendants is charged with unlawful confinement, torture and inhuman treatment, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit war crimes, the Justice Department said. None of the men are in U.S. custody.

Prosecutors alleged Mkrtchyan and his soldiers abducted the unnamed victim from the village of Mylove in the Kherson Oblast region in southern Ukraine in April 2022. They beat him and illegally held him in custody for 10 days, according to the Justice Department. 

Officials said some of the men either led or participated in interrogation sessions and tortured the victim, at times stripping him of his clothes, photographing him and beating him. 

The Justice Department alleged Budnik threatened the victim with death and asked him for his last words. Nazar is accused of later conducting a mock execution of the victim. Charging documents said the unnamed victim had been living in Ukraine since 2021 and had not fought or participated in the war.

The charges against the four Russian soldiers are the first filed under the U.S. war crimes statute and come after multiple visits by Attorney General Merrick Garland and other Justice Department officials to the war-torn nation.

The Justice Department is assisting in the investigation of alleged war crimes committed by Russia, including by creating a War Crimes Accountability team, which will take part in the investigation of potential war crimes in Ukraine that fall under U.S. jurisdiction. U.S. investigators are also assisting the Ukrainians in gathering and documenting evidence for future prosecutions.

“The Justice Department will work for as long as it takes to pursue accountability and justice for Russia’s war of aggression,” Garland said in a statement Wednesday announcing the charges.