The international delegation, headed by Ana Lucía Bueno, ICRC Public Health Coordinator, and Sujit Panda, Head of the Physical Rehabilitation…
Russia’s war against Ukraine consists not only of missile strikes, artillery, and destroyed cities. It consists of specific people — those who give orders and t
These are the people who become executioners of civilians in occupied territories.
One of them is Timur Bakhtiyorovich Sitdikov, a Russian serviceman whom Ukrainian law enforcement has notified of suspicion of war crimes against civilians in the Chernihiv region.
The Book of Executioners of the Ukrainian People published the full dossier on this inhuman individual.
His name is recorded in the investigation materials. And it will remain there forever.
An occupier from the Russian hinterland
According to the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Chernihiv region, the suspect is Timur Bakhtiyorovich Sitdikov, born in 2001.
He was born on November 11 in the city of Buzuluk, Orenburg region of the Russian Federation.
At the time of the full-scale invasion, he served in the 385th Artillery Brigade of the 2nd Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District of the Russian Armed Forces.
In March 2022, the unit in which Sitdikov served controlled the village of Stara Basan in the Nizhyn district of the Chernihiv region.
It was there that the Russian serviceman became a direct participant in crimes against civilians.
Detention over a photo on a phone
On March 26, 2022, at around 10:00 a.m., Sitdikov together with two other Russian servicemen conducted a search of a private house belonging to local residents.
During the search, they found an old military uniform belonging to the homeowner, who had previously served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They also found a photo of his father in a Ukrainian military uniform on the phone.
That was enough.
Both men were escorted out of the yard under guard by Russian soldiers and locked in a neighboring house under armed watch.
That same morning, Sitdikov and his accomplices searched three more households and detained at least five civilians.
There was no evidence, no charges — only the suspicion of the occupier and the weapon in his hands.
Interrogation at gunpoint
During the interrogation, one of the detainees was ordered to kneel.
Sitdikov pressed a rifle to the man’s head and demanded information about alleged ties to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
For a civilian, this was a direct threat of execution.
The victim did not respond.
Sitdikov stepped back, but the abuse did not end there. While he stood nearby with a weapon in his hands, his accomplices began beating the other detainees.
After the beating, the victims’ hands were tied with plastic restraints and bags were placed over their heads.
A cellar instead of a cell
That same day, all detainees were transported by unknown vehicle to a cellar in one of the settlements.
They were held there for two days — from March 26 to March 28.
They remained with their hands tied and eyes covered. Without proper food. Without access to a toilet. Without medical assistance, despite injuries sustained during the beating.
Cold, unsanitary conditions, and complete isolation. For the occupiers, these people were simply hostages.
Second place of detention
On March 28, the prisoners were transferred to another detention site — a building in the village of Novyi Bykiv in the Nizhyn district.
They were held there until March 31, 2022.
Only after Russian troops began withdrawing from the Chernihiv region were the civilians released.
No explanations. No apologies.
War crimes that have names
The investigation qualifies the actions of Timur Sitdikov under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine — cruel treatment of civilians and other violations of the laws and customs of war committed by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy.
His actions are considered three forms of war crimes:
- torture — psychological violence with threats of killing;
- inhumane treatment — holding people with tied hands and bags over their heads in inhumane conditions;
- unlawful deprivation of liberty of civilians.
This constitutes a direct violation of the Geneva Convention on the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War.
No one will be lost among thousands
The Russian army tries to dissolve its crimes in the scale of war — claiming that in the chaos of hostilities it is impossible to identify those responsible.
But every such crime has testimonies, investigative materials, names and surnames.
The story of Stara Basan is only one episode of a large war. But for those who were beaten, held in basements, and threatened with execution, these were specific days and specific people.
And one of them is Timur Sitdikov.
He may hide in Russia, continue his service, or pretend that nothing happened.
But war crimes have no statute of limitations.
The names of executioners remain in the investigation files until justice catches up with them.
