Russia secretly buries the bodies of the Ukrainian teenagers it murdered in occupied Berdiansk

It is likely that the Russian occupiers of Berdiansk (Zaporizhzhia oblast) secretly buried the bodies of the two 16-year-old Ukrainian lads, Tihran Ohannisian and a Mykyta Khanhanov whom they killed on 24 June 2023.  The Russians claimed that the boys were killed in a shootout, with this, as well as allegations about planned ‘sabotage’, used as excise for not handing over the boy’s bodies for burial and, thus, making it impossible to ascertain how they died.  The Russian FSB used the same excuse to conceal their almost certain deliberate killing of a refugee in occupied Crimea.  Such methods only exacerbate the immense concern that Russia has thus far not returned the body of 27-year-old journalist, Victoria Roshchyna, who died of unexplained causes while being illegally held prisoner in a notorious Russian prison. 

As reported, both the initial persecution of the two young lads, and their killing were condemned both in Ukraine and abroad. 

Tihran Ohannisian and Mykyta Khanhanov were killed on the eve of what should have been Mykyta’ seventeenth birthday on 25 June.  According to Tihran’s mother, she had spoken with her son half an hour before the Russians claimed that the boys had attempted a terrorist attack and had been killed.  She said that her son had sounded quite relaxed and said he would be home by 9 p.m. He had said that they were hanging out and planning how to celebrate Mykyta’s birthday, and had spoken of plans to visit her and his younger siblings (in Germany).  

Reports and a video, showing Tihran Ohanissian, first appeared on various Telegram channels in the evening of 24 June.  Notorious collaborator Vladimir Rogov asserted on his channel that there had been a shootout and that “two pro-Ukrainian terrorists’ had been killed.  Rogov named only Tihran, mentioning nothing about the lad’s age, but saying that he had earlier been detained “for anti-Russian activities”. The Berdiansk Municipal Military Administration posted the video circulating on social media on which Tihran is wearing a combat glove and holding a rifle. Tihran appears to suggest that two have been shot [“Two, definitely”], and then says “That’s it, death, guys.  Farewell! Glory to Ukraine!”   

Although the Russians claimed that the boys had been killed by a sniper, this did not seem consistent with the one fact known, that there were several wounds.  There were also other discrepancies, for example, in the alleged time of the killing and clothes worn. 

It had become clear a month earlier that the Russian invaders had accused the lads of acts of sabotage on railway tracks, with Russia’s ‘Investigative Committee’ formally initiating ‘sabotage’ charges under Article 281 of Russia’s criminal code.  Ukrainian and Belarusian partisans have certainly carried out legitimate acts of sabotage to obstruct Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.  It was, however, clear that Tihran had been abducted by the Russians and tortured, with the persecution of the two young boys shocking enough to prompt the European Parliament to issue a resolution demanding an end to the persecution.

Instead, Russia killed the two 16-year-olds and then refused to hand over their bodies.  Andriy Yakovliev, MIHR lawyer, who is representing Tihran’s family, has now told Radio Svoboda that the boys’ bodies were probably secretly buried, with Russia claiming that the boys had been accused of supposed ‘terrorist activities’ with the investigation terminated merely because the boys had been killed.  Russia supposedly applies a ‘rule’ under such circumstances that the bodies are not handed over to their families and are buried in secret.

This is a pitiful excuse for concealing the likely evidence of wrongdoing.  These were two young boys, and even had the Russians had proof of unlawful behaviour, this needed to be demonstrated in a proper court of law.  Instead, they killed the alleged ‘suspects’, terminated the case and then claimed that this termination entitled them to i) violate the presumption of innocence and ii) prevent the families from verifying the claims about how the body had been killed.

Worth noting that the excuse for not handing over the bodies has changed.  In December 2023, Yakovliev reported that the Russians had merely used the alleged need for a forensic examination because ‘criminal proceedings’ had been initiated, as the excuse for not releasing the bodies.  It seemed clear that Russia was using methods of obstruction, including cruel lies and pressure on the church where the funeral had initially been planned, with the families not even knowing where their sons’ bodies were being held.  It now seems likely that they had already been ‘buried’ in secret.  Russia clearly had too much to hide about their murder of two 16-year-old boys.

The tactics and thinking behind them are brutally cynical. However warranted the suspicions, it is harder to prove a crime without the main evidence, namely the bodies of the victims.  Everybody understands that it was Russia that blocked access to the site of the worst killing of Ukrainian prisoners of war at the Russian-controlled Olenivka on 29 July 2022.  The UN even stated clearly that Russia’s claims in which they tried to blame Kyiv for the horrific explosion that killed over 50 men were false.  Neither they, nor any other international bodies, were prepared to place the blame where it clearly lay because of the lack of access to the scene of the crime.

It is tragically telling that Russia has used the same excuse for hiding the bodies of Tihran Ohannisian and Mykyta Khanharov, as it did after the Russian FSB’s killing of Nabi Rakhimov, an Uzbek refugee who had been living peacefully with his family in occupied Crimea.

It is almost three weeks since the news broke of the death of 27-year-old Ukrainian journalist Victoria Roshchyna in Russian captivity and well over a month since the date seemingly given for her death (18 September). No reason was given for the death of a young woman who had been in good health before being abducted by the Russian invaders in occupied Zaporizhzhia oblast.  It is known that she had been held in a notorious SIZO [remand prison] in Tagenrog, and there are very real grounds for fearing that Russia’s delay in releasing her body is because she too was tortured to death or directly murdered.