Ukraine: Torture in Lukashivka

The trial of two Russian servicemen accused of torturing four Ukrainian POWs in the village of Lukashivka has begun at the Chernihiv District Court. 

Danil Koblik, 30, and 34-year-old Aleksandr Korkin are being tried in absentia.

Koblik, a native of the Kemerovo region in the Russian Federation, has already been sentenced to life for war crimes. 

A major who served as a battalion commander in the 74th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, using the call sign Magnit, his whereabouts are unclear. Russian websites have reported that Koblik was killed on December 16, 2023 while fighting in Ukraine. However, Ukrainian investigators have no official confirmation of his death.

In January 2024, the Chernihiv District Court sentenced him to life in prison for the torture and execution of another Ukrainian soldier in Lukashivka.

The court found that Koblik had personally interrogated and tortured Vadym Nazarov, a 23-year-old serviceman from Zviahel in the Zhytomyr region. After failing to obtain any information, Koblik shot and killed the soldier with an automatic rifle. 

An appellate court has since upheld the verdict.

Koblik is now charged with the brutal treatment of four Ukrainian POWs, in conspiracy with Korkin and other unidentified servicemen. Korkin, a Russian national, is also known to be from the Kemerovo region and served as a subordinate in Koblik’s battalion.

The accused Russian soldiers are represented in court by lawyers from the Free Legal Aid Centre.

At an October 14 hearing, prosecutor Daria Pavlova read a summary of the indictment outlining the case against Koblik and Korkin and charging them with war crimes under Part 2, Article 28 and Part 1, Article 438 of the criminal code of Ukraine.

“The servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had ceased their participation in combat, stopped resisting and acquired the status of POWs,” Pavlova said, noting that this constituted a violation of international humanitarian law. “According to the investigation, they were interrogated and beaten in an attempt to obtain information about the location of military positions and equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”

The court then proceeded to examine the prosecution’s evidence, reviewing a video of a crime scene reenactment involving two survivors, identified as Anton B and Artem H. In the video, the men recounted the events of March 9, 2022 and demonstrated where and how they were taken captive. At the time, Ukrainian forces had been forced to retreat near Lukashivka, with many soldiers killed or captured.

“The Russian armed forces began their offensive at around 8am,” recounted Anton B during the reenactment. “We retreated towards the village. We were near the local dump and a potato warehouse.”

“We were surrounded on two sides,” continued Artem H. “We were confronted by seven tanks and an infantry fighting vehicle. A tank fired two shots over our heads. The Russian soldiers bound our hands with cable ties and beat us on the head and back. They loaded us onto an armoured personnel carrier and took us to the church in Lukashivka. I don’t remember what happened during that time, as I was unconscious.”

Artem said that by the time he regained consciousness, he and his comrades were outside a private home. 

“The location was used as a collection point for wounded Russian soldiers and a communications hub,” he continued. “We were stripped of our clothes outside. Some of the Russian soldiers were of Asian descent. Then, a battalion commander with the call sign Magnit came out to us. He had a Slavic appearance and was of average height. He had a very prominent brow ridge and was constantly scowling. Based on the smell, I believe he was under the influence of marijuana. His skull was slightly deformed.”

Anton said that the Russian commander had a very hoarse voice and was holding a wooden, bat-like club, about a metre and a half long, which he identified as the handle of a pestle.

“It was clear he was the one in charge,” Anton recounted in the video. “We were interrogated directly by the battalion commander, Magnit. If he didn’t like an answer, he would beat us. I was hit on the back because I was standing behind him.” 

Anton said that other soldiers also beat the prisoners as they walked past, with one firing his weapon into the ground and another threatening “to cut off our fingers with pruning shears”.

The survivors added that Magnit had demanded to know the location of Ukrainian mortars, tanks and troops as well as the route to Kyiv.

“While I was on my knees, I saw their military vehicles drive into the yard,” said Artem H. “They brought other prisoners. I was ordered to strip to my underwear. They saw my tattoo and said I had fought against them.”

The man recounted that Russian soldiers took an old student ID from his wallet, to which the battalion commander remarked, “Oh, so we’re fighting students.”

“I told him I was a contract soldier. For saying that, Magnit hit me twice on the back,” the survivor said. “The major was irritated that I was looking him in the eyes.”

Artem recounted that the battalion commander radioed his command and then ordered his subordinates to lead the Ukrainian prisoners outside to a Ural military truck and other vehicles. 

The Russians were loading their own wounded onto armuored vehicles. The POWs were forced to their knees and beaten again.

“They bound our hands and feet with cable ties again. They put ropes round our necks. There were ten of us,” Artem H recalled. “They loaded us onto an armoured vehicle and said that if I fell off, everyone would be shot.

“We were paraded like a trophy to Ivanivka, where their brigade headquarters was located. They planned to take the ten of us, the Ukrainian soldiers, into a field and execute us with mortars.”

“You’re going to run across the field and we’re going to fire at you with a mortar,” Anton quoted them as saying.

However, the lead Russian tank struck two anti-tank mines and was disabled. Seizing the moment, the Ukrainian POWs climbed off the vehicle, freed their comrades and escaped into nearby forest.

There, they hid for 12 hours until darkness fell and they could return to their lines. 

The other two victims in this case, identified as Maksym S and Oleksandr D, were seized on the same day after Russian soldiers found them in the cellar of a house in the village.

The two men were ordered out, forced to the ground and had their hands and feet bound. Afterwards, they were taken to a headquarters established in the courtyard of a local resident’s home. 

The court is scheduled to hear their testimony at the next session, as well as reviewing video of further investigative reenactments.

Further prosecutions are expected regarding events in Lukashivka.