A renegade Russian soldier disclosed some atrocities his brigade, which Russian President Vladimir Putin commended, had committed against civilians in the Russia-Ukraine war.
Yakutsk native Nikita Chibrin said he had served in the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, the infamous Russian military force accused of war atrocities in Bucha, Borodianka, and other towns north of Kyiv in the Russia-Ukraine war.
In September, he abandoned his post in the Russian military and made his way to Europe through Belarus and Kazakhstan.
Nikita Chibrin said that he vividly recalls the March deployment to the northwesterly outskirts of Kyiv when he and his fellow Russian troops were accused of raping two Ukrainian women in their Russian war crimes.
The former Russian soldier said he learned his comrades "raped a mother and a daughter," and their superiors knew about the crime they committed but did not give appropriate punishment to the culprits. Nobody ever put them in prison. They were just taken off the battlefield.
Criminal Soldiers Hailed By Putin
After Russian troops left Kyiv, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense declared Chibrin's brigade war criminals in April after burial sites and street corpses were found.
CNN found Azatbek Omurbekov, the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade commander, in Nikita Chibrin's military records. Sanctions have been enforced on Omurbekov, also known as the "Butcher of Bucha," by the European Union and the United Kingdom, while the whole brigade was slapped with US sanctions.
The Kremlin has repeatedly asserted that the photographs of civilian victims were staged and denied any responsibility for the massacres.
Russian President Vladimir Putin commended the unit's "heroism" and aggressive efforts by bestowing upon them an honorary military award, drawing widespread international condemnation.
Former Russian soldier Chibrin also mentioned that they were given permission to shoot people who had a phone--and some people get off on the thrill of murder. "Such maniacs turned up there," he said.
Nikita Chibrin also said that there was extensive theft, with Russian forces stealing laptops, jewelry, and anything else they fancied.
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In a European country where he has sought refuge, he disclosed to CNN the horrors he watched and heard about and vowed he would testify against his unit in an international criminal court.
Despite what others may say, he insists he is completely innocent.
The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on Chibrin's allegations, according to Business Insider.
The UK To Train Ukrainian Judges To Address Russia War Crimes
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is providing training for 90 Ukrainian judges so that they may try Moscow's troops for Russia war crimes, according to Sky News.
As part of a £2.5 million ($3 million) investment, a group of judges met in a top-secret site in the area last week, with more to come in the following months.
Victoria Prentis, in her first television appearance as Attorney General, told the media outlet that the measure will allow for the unusual prosecution of war criminals even while hostilities continue.
Ukrainian judges are likely to preside over the overwhelming number of war crimes cases taking place in the nation.
The first trial occurred in May, and since then, 14 Russian troops have been found guilty. However, more than 43,000 recorded Russia war crimes cases have been filed.
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