Following the SSU’s investigation, a citizen of belarus was notified of suspicion of mercenarism. The belarusian joined the russian private company Redut [redoubt] and came to kill Ukrainians.

Now, the wounded mercenary is in Ukrainian captivity, taken prisoner during the Ukrainian counter-offensive in Donetsk direction.

According to the investigation, the 22-year-old belarusian at his own initiative approached the russian private military company in July 2022. He came to russia and on July 19 signed a contract with the PMC Redut for military service as a machine gunner.

On July 21, the mercenary arrived in Izium, Kharkiv region, where he was given weapons and began to fight.

In August, he was redeployed to Svatove, Luhansk region, and then to Koroviy Yar, Lyman district, Donetsk region. There, he continued to implement russia’s plan of capturing Ukraine.

During the counter-offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, on September 19, the mercenary was taken prisoner.

SSU investigators are currently working with the militant. His actions have been qualified as mercenarism (Article 447.4 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). The belarusian is facing up to 10 years in prison.

The SSU is documenting the crime under the procedural supervision of the Prosecutor General’s Office.

According to Article 62 of the Constitution of Ukraine, a person is presumed innocent of a crime and cannot be subject to criminal punishment until their guilt is proven in line with the procedure defined by law and established by a relevant court’s verdict.