Prosecutor General: Case on possible torture, murder of UK's volunteer by Russian military opened

KYIV. Sept 7 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) has opened criminal proceedings on the fact of possible torture and murder of a volunteer from the UK by Russian servicemen, Prosecutor General Andriy Kostin has said.

"The Prosecutor General’s Office has launched a pretrial investigation into the facts of possible torture and murder of a volunteer from the UK by servicemen of the Russian armed forces," the Prosecutor General said at a briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday.

According to Kostin, it was previously established that in April 2022, during the volunteer activities for the evacuation of the civilian population in Zaporizhia region, a volunteer was illegally captured by Russian military personnel, deprived of liberty and forcibly transported to the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region.

"In July, the occupation administration of Russia spread information about the alleged death of a volunteer due to illness and stress. Only after a month and a half of negotiations and the principled position of Ukraine, Russia returned his body to the territory controlled by Ukraine," Kostin said.

He said there were signs of bodily harm on the volunteer’s body, "which may indicate ill-treatment, which could have been the real cause of his death," he said.

The Prosecutor General said the invaders kept the body of the volunteer in improper conditions, so the real causes of death and possible injuries will be established after the examination.

According to Kostin, the investigation of the criminal proceedings was entrusted to the SBU.

"In my opinion, Russia once again shows its cannibalistic face, thousands of citizens are tortured daily and are under the threat of extrajudicial execution, including civilians who are illegally held hostage by Russia in the temporarily occupied territories," the Prosecutor General said.

"We are in contact with representatives of the UK. They certainly take part in this process, and their expert assistance is also important for us. We are open to cooperation with colleagues from the UK so that the causes of death and the causes of bodily injuries are finally and absolutely accurately determined, which we see on the body of the British volunteer returned to us," Kostin said.

He said that, perhaps, the necessary medical care was not provided to the volunteer, and this became the cause of death.