Prosecutors proved in court that at the end of December 2022, a lieutenant colonel of the russian armed forces, commander of the 8th coastal defense artillery regiment of the 22nd army corps of the russian black sea fleet, acting on orders from the russian high command, organized massive shelling of civilian infrastructure in the center of Kherson. Under his leadership, units of the russian armed forces launched strikes with rocket and high-explosive fragmentation shells on densely populated areas of the regional center.

As a result of his criminal actions, 13 civilians were killed, another 60 people were injured. Dozens of residential infrastructure, municipal property, and transport were destroyed.

Upon the public prosecution by prosecutors of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor's Office, the court found the lieutenant colonel of the russian armed forces guilty of violating the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder (part 2 of Art 28, part 2 of Art 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and sentenced him in absentia to life imprisonment. This is the first verdict in the proceedings regarding the shelling of Kherson.

The investigation was carried out by investigators of the SSU Department in the Kherson region. Operational support was provided by the Main Counterintelligence Department of the SSU Department in the Kherson region and the Main Operational and Investigative Department of the 79th Border Detachment of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.

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First verdict for the shelling of Kherson – lieutenant colonel of the russian black sea fleet sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment