The court sentenced 15 Russian occupiers in absentia to 12 years in prison for the brutal treatment of civilians in Yahidne village of the Chernihiv region.
Condemnation of the Russian military
The Russian occupiers were found guilty of violating the laws and customs of war committed by a group of persons (Chapter 1 of Article 28, Chapter 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
Prosecutors proved that at the beginning of Mar. 2022, the Russian military, while in the occupied village of Yahidne, Chernihiv district, deprived them of their freedom and forcibly detained 368 people, including 69 minors, in the basement of the Yagidne's school as "human shields".
Thus, residents were used to cover the command post from possible offensive actions by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
10 civilians died in the "cellar of death" due to inhuman conditions of detention and failure to provide the necessary medical care.
What is known about the events in the village of Yahidne
At the beginning of the invasion, the village was under Russian occupation for about a month. The occupiers gathered the villagers in the basement of the local school, where they held them for four weeks.
There was no sewage, lighting, or ventilation in the basement, and people lacked water and food.
Three hundred fifty village residents were in a basement with an area of 197 m² for 28 days from March 3 to March 31, 2022.
Seventy-seven prisoners were children. The youngest was 1.5 months old. Ten people died, and Russian troops killed another 17.
The Ukrainian military liberated the village on March 30, 2022.
