The SSU has identified another russian occupier involved in mass tortures and killings of civilians in the occupied areas of southern Ukraine.

The perpetrator is lieutenant colonel Ayuba Eldarov, a battalion commander of the 96th operational regiment of the 46th separate brigade of russia’s national guard.

In May 2022, he was appointed the so-called ‘commandant of Chernihivka village’ in the temporarily occupied Berdiansk district, Zaporizhzhia region.

In this ‘position’, he fulfilled the kremlin’s task of suppressing the resistance movement and conducting mass repressions against civilians in the occupied territories of Ukraine.

For this purpose, Eldarov formed punitive squads consisting of russian military, officers of russian special services and local collaborators.

On lieutenant colonel’s orders, ruscists ‘hunted’ for Ukrainian patriots and abducted them.

The victims were taken to a torture chamber set up in the russian occupation commandant’s office.

In the jail, people were subjected to brutal torture using toxic chemicals and electric shocks.

The fact that the enemy used asphyxiating gases in specially equipped ‘cells’, where Ukrainian prisoners were kept, has been documented.

In this way, russian invaders tried to force the victims to cooperate in order to obtain information on location and movement of the Defence Forces.

The investigation established that Eldarov had personally participated in illegal detentions and torture, as well as ‘covered up’ murders of abducted citizens by his subordinates.

The SSU also received testimonies from three local residents who survived russian torture chambers and managed to escape to the Ukraine-controlled territory.

One of them is a local villager who was abducted by the occupiers at a checkpoint and tortured because of his subscription to a Ukrainian Telegram channel.

Another illegally imprisoned person was a man whom the invaders ‘accused’ of adjusting fire of the AFU’s artillery.

The third testimony is from a local who in his statements supported Ukrainian defenders.

All of them testified to Eldarov’s involvement in war crimes.

Based on the collected evidence, the SSU notified the russian serviceman of suspicion under Articles 28.2 and 438.1 of the CCU (violation of laws and customs of war, committed by a group upon prior conspiracy).

The SSU is acting to hold the ruscist to account.

The russian war criminal will be punished regardless of the time and place where he is hiding from justice!

The SSU Office in Zaporizhzhia region conducted the investigation under the procedural supervision of the regional Prosecutor’s Office.