Deputy Minister of Defense, Lieutenant Colonel Yurii Myronenko, said this during an event dedicated to the anniversary of the Public…
The Chernihiv District Court has sentenced in absentia a Russian serviceman — Major of the Russian Armed Forces Mykyta Zheludkov — to 12 years of imprisonment for ordering the abduction and torture of two civilian Ukrainians in March 2022 in Chernihiv region.
This was reported by the project The Book of Executioners of the Ukrainian People.
According to the investigation, on March 17, 2022, near the villages of Khalyavyn and Polubotky, Russian occupiers detained two residents of Khalyavyn who were heading to Chernihiv to buy food. On the order of Zheludkov — at that time commander of a reconnaissance company of the 35th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade of the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District of the Russian Armed Forces — the men were searched and forcibly taken to the occupiers’ unit location.
In Polubotky, the victims were robbed of money and mobile phones, threatened with execution, and then thrown into a cold basement of a private house with their hands tied and eyes blindfolded. The Ukrainians were held there for three days — in dampness and cold, almost without food or water, and without access to a toilet.
Later, the men were taken for “interrogation”, during which the occupiers staged a mock execution. On March 20, they were blindfolded, taken to a field, forced to lie on the ground, and again threatened with death. Only after the Russian soldiers left were the victims able to free themselves and reach Chernihiv.
Zheludkov’s identity was established several months later. In March 2025, both victims independently identified him from photographs during investigative procedures.
The court found the Russian officer guilty under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — cruel treatment of civilians and violation of the laws and customs of war, committed by prior conspiracy by a group of persons.
The sentence will take effect from the moment of the convict’s actual detention.
