The Main Directorate of Intelligence (known as GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine identified Russian soldiers who shot four Ukrainian prisoners of war near Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia region) in the second half of May 2024.
The execution was captured on video — on it, four Ukrainian servicemen with their hands raised without weapons surrender to captivity, and the Russians force them to lie face down and shoot them at close range.
GUR claims that Russian soldiers from the assault group of the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment (Military Unit 71718) of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division of the 58th Army of the Southern District of the Russian Armed Forces were involved in the shooting. The point of permanent deployment of this military unit is located in Shala, in Chechnya.
At the time of the execution of the Ukrainian prisoners of war under Robotyne, the 70th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the Russian Army was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Yuriy Mairbykovich Abayev with the call sign "Buffalo", he was born in 1990.
Servicemen of the 70th motorized rifle regiment of the Russian army were also involved in the execution of Ukrainian fighters, in particular:
- captain Dmytro Olegovych Nagorny, born on November 21, 1995 — commander of the 2nd battalion;
- senior lieutenant Abutalimov Temirlan Umarovych, born on May 2, 1997 — commander of the 1st assault company;
- Lieutenant Bekov Zaur Serhiyovych, born on July 16, 1997. — commander of the 3rd assault company;
- Senior Lieutenant Imagazaliyev Yusup Paizulaevich, born on July 18, 1999. — commander of the 6th assault company.
They may also be involved in the execution of several more Ukrainian prisoners of war, which occurred later in May 2024. This, in particular, is evidenced by received radio intercepts of the conversation of the occupiers from the 70th regiment of the Russian Armed Forces, during which one of the Russian commanders of the assault company orders his subordinates to shoot Ukrainian soldiers.
- Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin said that the Russian military in Donetsk region beheaded a Ukrainian soldier. On June 17, one of the units of the Russian Federation in the Volnovasky district was ordered not to capture Ukrainians and behead them. After that, aerial reconnaissance found a damaged armored car of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with a head on the hood. The prosecutorʼs office has already established the details of the dead Ukrainian soldier and the Russian commanders potentially responsible for the order to kill him. The details of the deceased and the Russians have not yet been disclosed — they are still being clarified.
- In the winter of 2024, cases of shooting prisoners of war began to be made public. The first case happened near the village of Vesele (Bakhmut district) — two soldiers were killed there, the second — at the "Zenith" position in Avdiivka, where six soldiers of the 110th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were probably shot. The third was near Robotyne (three Ukrainian defenders were killed). And on February 25, it became clear that the Russian military had once again shot Ukrainian prisoners of war "on camera." The moment of execution was filmed by a copter.