The SBU reported the suspicion to Adam Delimkhanov, a member of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, who commanded the "Kadyrovites" during the assault on Azovstal.
The official is part of Kadyrovʼs inner circle. The SBU writes that it was on the instructions of the latter that Delimkhanov arrived in the temporarily occupied part of the Donetsk region at the beginning of a full-scale invasion and led a group of enemy troops.
From February to May of last year, under his command, the "Kadyrovtites" fought against units of the Ukrainian Defense Forces on the eastern front.
Among other things, the invaders took an active part in the storming of the Azovstal metallurgical plant.
Delimkhanov also distributed propaganda videos of Kadyrov through his own Telegram channel, where he justifies the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
Based on the collected evidence, the investigators of the Security Service notified Delimkhanov of suspicion under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine:
- Part 5 of Art. 27, Part 3 of Art. 110 (assistance in changing the boundaries of the territory and the state border of Ukraine);
- Part 3 of Art. 436-2 (justification, recognition as legitimate of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine).
Mariupol was defended for 82 days, the defenders of the city concentrated the enemyʼs forces at the Azovstal plant until the last, in order to buy time for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in other directions and positions. On May 16, the evacuation of soldiers from the plant began. They were transported to occupied Olenivka, where the Russians later staged a terrorist attack, killing 43 prisoners.