Ukrainian law enforcement has gathered sufficient evidence to charge Russian soldier Valentin Manzyrov with the murder of two civilian men in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha at the beginning of the full-scale war, according to a report by investigative outlet Slidstvo.Info.
In a phone conversation with the journalists, Manzyrov denied being in Bucha at the time of the alleged murders.
According to the indictment published on the website of the Office of the Prosecutor General, the suspect in the murder of civilians is Valentin Aleksandrovich Manzyrov.
The prosecution alleges that in March 2022, when Russian forces occupied parts of Kyiv Oblast, Manzyrov was in Bucha. Along with other soldiers from the Kuzbass unit, Manzyrov controlled a sector of the city that included Antonia Mykhailovskoho Street.
On the evening of March 27, Manzyrov detained one of the local residents on the street and, together with him, broke into the home of another Bucha resident. There, the occupier began demanding alcohol from the homeowner and wanted him to drink with him. However, the civilian man replied that he did not have alcohol and did not consume it because he was observing Lent. Enraged, Manzyrov went to the kitchen and found a desired drink himself. He then shot one man three times and the other four times. Both civilians died from their wounds.
Valentin Manzyrov is a sniper in the 27th Separate Special Forces Unit Kuzbass of the Russian National Guard (Rosgvardiya). This military unit, number 6607, is based in Kemerovo.
Valentin Manzyrov
As established by Slidstvo.Info journalists, Manzyrov is 24 years old and hails from the village of Chibilya in the Ulagan district of the Republic of Altai. In 2017, Manzyrov graduated from Chibilya Secondary School. After that, from 2018 to 2019, he served in the Air Force in Karelia. In 2019, he signed a contract with the Kuzbass special forces unit.
According to a post on the VKontakte page of the medical college in Gorno-Altaysk, Valentin Manzyrov “despite his young age, was in Ukraine from the first days of the special military operation, defending the Motherland.” The same post adds that Manzyrov currently works as an inspector in the Moscow government’s departmental security.
Journalists from Slidstvo.Info called Manzyrov to ask why he shot the Ukrainian civilians and whether he was aware that Ukrainian law enforcement had indicted him.
– “Is this Valentin Manzyrov?”
– “Hia. Who is this?”
– “Why did you kill two civilian residents when you were in Bucha in March 2022?”
– “What do you mean?”
– “Why did you shoot two civilians?”
– “Don’t talk nonsense. I wasn’t there.”
Valentin Manzyrov will be tried in absentia in Ukraine, as he is currently on Russian territory. If found guilty of violating Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (“Violation of the laws and customs of war”), Manzyrov faces imprisonment for a term of 10 to 15 years, or even life imprisonment.
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