Ukraine has handed over to the Republic of Lithuania a russian serviceman suspected of war crimes on the territory of our state. According to the investigation, the perpetrator tortured prisoners, and among the victims of his actions was a Lithuanian citizen who was volunteering in Ukraine. The extradition took place following a joint investigation by the Security Service, the Office of the Prosecutor General, and the National Police.

‘This is the first time since the start of the full-scale war that Ukraine extradited a detained russian serviceman to another foreign state,’ said Deputy Head of the Security Service Brigadier General Serhiy Naumiuk.

The apprehended individual is a citizen of the aggressor state, Margen Gadzhimagomedov, an inspector of the military police of the 177^th separate marine regiment of russia’s Caspian flotilla. As has been established by the investigation, he tortured prisoners who were held in a jail set up by the enemy on the territory of the temporarily occupied airfield in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region.

Among those who suffered from his actions was a volunteer from Lithuania who had been helping Ukraine’s Defence Forces since the first days of the war.

The ruscists resorted to various forms of torture against captives: they were kept in safes, suffocated until they lost consciousness, hung by their bound hands, doused with cold water in the freezing cold, and tortured with electricity.

Ukrainian defenders captured the torturer during fighting near Robotyne in August 2024.

Based on the materials from Security Service investigators and foreign partners, the Vilnius City Court recognised the serviceman as a suspect in violation of the Geneva Conventions, laws and customs of war in accordance with Articles 100 and 103 (part 1) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania.

At the request of the Lithuanian Prosecutor General’s Office, Ukraine carried out the extradition procedure at the end of October to bring the criminal to justice.

‘According to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania, war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war, committed through torture and unlawful deprivation of liberty, are punishable by imprisonment for a term of 10 to 20 years or life imprisonment. Therefore, I would like to thank my colleagues from the Security Service of Ukraine for their significant contribution to this investigation,’ emphasised Deputy Prosecutor General of Lithuania Gintas Ivanauskas.