The 32-year-old captain of the 147th Guards Artillery Regiment tortured a civilian during the occupation of the Sumy region, ordering three Russian soldiers to shoot him. Ukrainian law enforcement officers served him with a notice of suspicion, and Slidstvo.Info journalists identified the occupier.
On 20 November 2023, Ukrainian law enforcement officers served a notice of suspicion of violation of the laws and customs of war during the occupation of Sumy region to Konstantin Ozayev, commander of the 5th battery of the 9LK57 Uragan multiple rocket launcher system of the 147th self-propelled artillery regiment of the Land Forces of the Russian Ministry of Defence.
In early March 2022, during the occupation of the village of Boroml, Sumy Oblast, Russian soldier Konstantin Ozayev stopped a civilian car. The man showed his documents to the occupier and said that the car contained the body of a murdered woman. The Ukrainian found his friend on the street and decided to take her to the village. Ozayev offered the man to bury the body in the nearest crater from the explosion or on the side of the road, but the civilian refused to do so.
The occupier took the man’s documents and started checking whether he had served in the Anti-Terrorist Operation. It was then that Ozayev ordered three subordinates of the Russian military to shoot the Ukrainian in the knees.
The village resident began to ask not to do so, and Ozayev ordered the soldiers to execute him. The occupiers pointed their weapons at the man and asked Ozayev to move away from the line of fire.
The Ukrainian was saved by a message from Ozayev’s “colleagues” about an urgent move to another place. While the Russians were distracted, the man hid in a nearby building and saved his life.
Slidstvo.Info journalists identified the occupier.
32-year-old Konstantin Ozayev is from the city of Lagan (Republic of Kalmykia). The Russian soldier travelled almost 1200 kilometres to kill and torture Ukrainians.
- Occupier Konstantin Ozayev
- Occupier Konstantin Ozayev
- Occupier Konstantin Ozayev
After graduating from high school, he entered the Artillery Command School in Kazan. In 2013, he graduated from the Mikhailovsky Military Artillery Academy as a platoon commander of a howitzer battery. He was assigned to the 147th Guards Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov, Kutuzov and Alexander Nevsky, based in Kalininka, Moscow Oblast.
In 2020, Ozayev became the commander of the 5th battery of the Uragan multiple launch rocket system.
The Russian military has been fighting against Ukraine since the first days of the full-scale invasion. In the spring of 2022, occupier Ozayev received the Medal for Courage from Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
At the end of 2022, Ozayev trained mobilised Russians in Belarus and took an active part in the occupation of Ukrainian territories.
Slidstvo.Info journalists got through to Konstantin Ozayev. The occupier was not surprised when he heard about the suspicion from law enforcement officers, but refused to talk to Ukrainian journalists. For his crimes, the occupier faces up to 12 years in prison (Article 438, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
The material was prepared with the support of the European Union and the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework of the joint initiative “European Renaissance of Ukraine”. The material represents the position of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union or the International Renaissance Foundation.