Prosecutors of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office, together with investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine, have notified in absentia the commander of the 4th Red Banner Army of the Air Force and Air Defense of the Southern Military District of the Russian Aerospace Forces of suspicion, under whose agreement Russian military forces shelled civilian objects in Mariupol in March 2022. 

The actions of the suspect have been qualified as violations of the laws and customs of war, combined with intentional murder (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). 

According to the investigation, the lieutenant general approved a series of combat sorties of at least 10 Russian fighters and bombers, which carried out targeted strikes on residential areas and civilian infrastructure in Mariupol.

The most significant damage was inflicted on the Drama Theater of Mariupol, which became a symbol of Russian war crimes. Despite the fact that the word "ДЕТИ" (children) was written in large letters on the asphalt in front of the building in Russian, the pilot of the Su-34 bomber dropped an aerial bomb "FAB-500" on the theater. At that time, hundreds of civilians—mostly women, children, and elderly people—were sheltering in the theater's basements. Most of them died or sustained serious injuries.

Under the agreement of the suspect, airstrikes were also carried out on a maternity hospital and a children's hospital in the center of Mariupol. These attacks resulted in the deaths and injuries of dozens of civilians, including medical staff and patients.

Currently, the suspect is wanted. He has previously been notified of suspicion, including for organizing the bombing of the Mariupol district in 2022 during the course of conducting an aggressive war against Ukraine.

The actions of the suspect are part of a systematic policy of the Russian Federation aimed at the destruction of the civilian population and the terror of peaceful residents.