55-year-old Oleksandr Ishchenko, a soldier of the "Azov" regiment captured by the Russians, died in Russian Rostov-on-Don not by his own death — he was killed.
This was reported by the deputy commander of the "Azov" brigade Svyatoslav Palamar.
With the consent of the late Ishchenkoʼs wife Olena, Palamar published the results of the forensic medical examination and the certificate on the cause of death of the deceased. The documents indicate that Ishchenko died from multiple chest injuries caused by a blunt object.
On July 31, it became known that Oleksandr Ishchenko, one of the captured Ukrainian servicemen of the "Azov" regiment, died in Rostov-on-Don, Russia. That day, Ishchenko was not taken from the pretrial detention center to the court session, and his lawyer informed the court that the soldier had died.
Ishchenkoʼs daughter said that her father died 9 days before. Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets wrote that the Ukrainian side was not officially informed about this, as well as about the cause of death. Then Lubinets sent letters to the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations and the Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation.
What is known about Oleksandr Ishchenko
As his wife Olena previously told Babel, Oleksandr was a sailor. He returned from the see passage a few days before the full-scale invasion — on February 17, 2022, ten days later he joined the “Azov” regiment and became a driver.
It is not known when the man was captured, but it was definitely during active hostilities in Mariupol. The family learned that he was in captivity from the photo, but they were not allowed to talk to him. He spent a year in the Donetsk pre-trial detention center, and later ended up in Rostov.
What business is it about?
Ishchenko was involved in the case together with 23 other Ukrainians (two of them — Davyd Kasatkin and Dmytro Labinsky — were later exchanged). Russia accuses them of involvement in a "terrorist organization" and an "attempt to seize power" in the occupied part of the Donetsk region.
Most of them were captured or detained in the spring of 2022 in Mariupol. At different times, the prisoners were associated with the "Azov" regiment, but some of them had already resigned from the service or held civilian positions in the regiment at the time of their capture. For example, among the prisoners there are 9 women who worked as cooks or in the supply department.