Russian on trial for killing Ukrainian POW with his commander confirming ‘order to not take prisoners’
The trial is currently underway, at the Zavodsky District Court in Zaporizhzhia, of Dmitry Kurashov, a 26-year-old from a Russian assault unit accused of killing a Ukrainian soldier who had laid down his weapons and surrendered. Although there have been a horrific number of executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war, this trial is a first in that the defendant is physically present in court. He and other Russians from the same assault unit were taken prisoner shortly after the killing of Ukrainian defender Vitaly Hodniuk on 6 January 2024, with the charge of war crimes linked with killing laid against Kurashov in March 2024. Kurashov at one point admitted guilt but had earlier denied the charge and has since returned to asserting that he did not kill Hodnuk and that another person, whom he names, did. The trial is also unlike any other for other reasons. The only surviving eyewitnesses are the Russians who were taken prisoner at the same time. They have all given damning testimony against Kurashov who, if convicted, would face a sentence of up to life imprisonment. It is also worth noting that all of the Russians from the Storm-V unit were soldiers only in the sense that they had signed contracts to fight against Ukraine. This they did, not only for money, but in exchange for their pardon and release from serving very long prison sentences in Russia for violent crimes, including murder.
The Ukrainian ‘Vovk’ position, near the village of Pryiutne in Zaporizhzhia oblast, came under attack in the early morning of 6 January 2024. It seems that there was thick fog, so the command point knew only that they were under attack, but not how many enemy forces there were. There is also, clearly, no drone footage, with the latter very often how we learn of the executions of Ukrainian soldiers who had surrendered. In this case, it was the fact that Hodniuk was unarmed, and the position of his body that first aroused suspicion that he had been killed after surrounding (a war crime). In fact, the Ukrainians who retook the position reported two bodies, however the charges and witness testimony pertain solely to the killing of Vitaly Hodniuk. He was just 41 and had served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces from 2015 to 2020 in Donbas. He had enlisted in the Territorial Defence after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but had only arrived at the Vovk position the day before.
The position came under attack, with several men killed. Hodniuk had understood that he was heavily outnumbered, and had laid down his weapons, and, with hands raised, come out of the dugout.
The prosecution asserts that Kurashov (nom de guerre ‘Stalker’) ordered him to kneel and then fired three shots, killing him immediately
The Ukrainian Armed Forces were able to swiftly retake the positions and Kurashov, together with at least three other Russian soldiers were taken prisoner. The three have already been questioned as witnesses by the prosecutor and defence during the trial which began in November 2024. Although the men’s names have all appeared in media reports, Crimean Realities is right in stressing that they are prisoners of war and not naming them.
For security reasons, the three men were questioned from a different room. Witness A confirmed that he had seen Hodniuk leaving the dugout, and had then heard an assault rifle firing, and saw Hodniuk fall. When asked if he had seen Kurashov shoot Hodniuk, he said that he had not seen clearly enough to say with certainly but that only Kurashov and he had been near the dugout, and that Kurashov had been on his right, from where he had heard the gunfire.
Witness B was the commander of the unit of six men, including Kurashov, which took part, together with two other assault groups, in the attack on 6 January 2024. He testified that he had seen Hodniuk come out of the dugout with his hands up and had then heard the gunfire, and seen Hodniuk fall. He had seen ‘Stalker’ on his right and also stated that there had been no one else nearby. When asked if anybody else could have killed Hodniuk, whose body he had seen lying there, he said no.
He also said that he knew the Russian soldier, Sergei Kuchimov whom Kurashov has claimed shot Hodniuk, but that the latter had been in one of the other assault units which were further away. The prosecution have also examined this claim and concluded that Kuchimov was not near enough to have been involved.
Witness C not only confirmed that Kurashov ordered Hodniuk to come out of the dugout but said that he saw him shoot him. He further testified that he had seen Kurashov take Hodniuk’s watch
The unit commander is 40 and had served 19 years of a 25-year sentence for murder (he told Crimean Realities that he had “killed two drug addicts who were selling drugs”. The defence ministry offered him release with a clean slate if he signed a contract to fight for a year.
Another witness is 43 and had been sentenced to 9 years. This was for grave bodily injury after the person whom he hit with a brick died. He had served seven years and says that he agreed to fight “to quash my conviction”.
The commander of the unit said that they were instructed, during training, to not take Ukrainian soldiers prisoner. When asked if he meant that they should kill them, he answered yes, for example, by throwing grenades into dugouts. They were told this, he said, by lieutenant ‘Mist’ [Туман]. When asked who this was, he replied that he was the commander of the 5th army, but that they weren’t given names, only his nom de guerre. Asked why he was testifying against Kurashov, the commander said that in his opinion, Kurashov “acted a bit incorrectly in this situation”.
Kurashov himself was serving a second sentence (of five years) when recruited to fight in Ukraine. He claims that there were two Ukrainians who surrendered, with this corresponding to the above-mentioned report of the Ukrainian forces who retook the position. Kurashov, however, asserts that a Russian, whom he refers to as ‘Siedoi’ [Grey-haired] took one of the Ukrainians away and killed the other.
The report notes that all of the Russians, who were released from prison sentences, claim that they thought they were coming to Ukraine “to build dugouts”.
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