Ukraine Charges Captured Russian Soldier With "Terrorism"

A Russian soldier, who fought on the side of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic (“LPR”), was captured by Ukrainian soldiers in the village of Zholobok in the east of Ukraine. Viktor Ageev is now being held in an investigatory detention centre in the Luhansk region.

Ageev, along with three other soldiers captured with him, are preventatively being held on terrorism charges. The other soldiers are Danyl Gladkov and Andriy Stoyanov from the city of Severodonetsk in the Luhansk Region, and Bohdan Venher from the city of Luhansk.

In a written statement, Ageev denied giving Hromadske journalists an interview referring to Article 258-3 of the Ukrainian Criminal Code on “relations with terrorist groups or terrorist organizations, the leader of such a group or organizations or its members.”

The detention centre said that Agreev’s health was in order, when asked to comment on his possible injury during detention.

In turn, in a comment to Hromadske, Chief Military Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios said that the investigative department of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) is investigating the case while the military prosecutor of Ukraine is managing the procedure. Matios also confirmed that all four soldiers were arrested without the possibility of bail.

Read More: Who Is the Russian Soldier Captured in the Eastern Ukraine

On June 25,  in the village of Zhelobok, Ukrainian Armed Forces neutralized a sabotage-reconnaissance group of militants and captured four people, one of whom, Viktor Ageev, was from the Altai region of Russia. Several militants from Ageev’s unit were killed.

The militants’ commander was a Russian officer from the city of Kirov, Captain Aleksandr Scherbak.

Ageev along with a machine gunner, a sapper, and a sniper were captured.

/translated by Eilish Hart