Russian soldiers burst into a house in the occupied village of Kozachi Laheri (Kherson oblast) and shot dead three Ukrainian pensioners: 62-year-old Victor Hladkyy, his wife Olha (or Tetiana) Hladka, who was 64 and their neighbour Victor Nadeiev. Although there are varying accounts of what happened during the night from 17 to 18 September, there does not appear to be any doubt that the three Ukrainians were shot and killed in cold blood.
ASTRA reported the murders on 19 September, citing both relatives of the couple, who do not themselves live in occupied Kherson oblast, and Ukrainian media sources. According to the couple’s daughter-in-law, Yulia, they had tried to stand up for their neighbour Victor Nadeiev, whom the Russians were accusing of something. The invaders had shot and wounded Nadeiev in the leg, so the couple took him back to their home.
Yulia understands that the Russians returned later, this time to the home of her parents-in-law. They accused Nadeiev of links with Ukraine’s Security Service [SBU], and the couple of protecting so-called ‘traitors’. The Russians, who were drunk, shot and killed all three pensioners, with their bodies lying in the house for 24 hours while the Russians refused to let anybody near them. Yulia says that everybody heard the shots, yet no one came to help. They killed her parents-in-law without any reason, she says, her husband is distraught, and “those dogs live on”. Her parents-in-law were people who helped others in need, she recalls, adding bitterly that, if they had behaved as most people do, and hidden under the bed, they would still be alive. Victor and Olha did not even live to see their grandchildren who were born after the occupation began.
ASTRA notes that some pro-Russian online chats have also reported the deaths, but without any details.
The problem with any reports is that it is unlikely that there are witnesses to the crime who survived. The Centre for Journalist Investigations [CJI cited both local online chats and residents of the village in reporting only that the Russian invaders, who were drunk, forced their way into Victor and Tetiana’s home during the night from 17 to 18 September 2025. According to one version, they demanded alcohol and shot the couple, when Victor told them that there was none in the house, and that they then shot Victor Nadeiev after he arrived, having heard the shots. How likely anyone would be to come running late at night, especially with armed Russian soldiers around, because of shots, is unclear. Another version put forward is that the Russians wanted to rape Olha Hladka, and her husband and their neighbour stepped in to stop them, with all three being gunned down.
Ukraine’s National Resistance Centre reports that it has documents confirming that the killings took place. It seems that the believed killers have been detained with an investigation supposedly initiated. The National Resistance Centre warns, however, that the occupation ‘administration’ are trying to cover things up and there is a real danger that the men will not face justice.
There are strong grounds for fearing this, including the lack of any evidence that the murderers of, for example, Anastasia Saksahanska and her husband, Valeriy were ever held to answer. They were abducted by Russian soldiers from their home in Mali Kopan, a village in Kherson oblast) on 15 September 2023 and murdered. There have been several violent deaths of Ukrainians after they were seized by the Russian invaders, including those of Father Stepan Podolchak and 28-year-old Ruslan Rusnak.
There has been zero accountability for the horrific crimes committed by the invading forces in Bucha, Izium, Mariuipol, Yahidne or Kherson. Quite the contrary, with Russian leader Vladimir Putin positively lavishing state ‘honours’ on men and regiments directly implicated in such crimes. A considerable number of Russia’s so-called ‘new heroes’, i.e. those who take part in the country’s war of aggression against Ukraine are convicted prisoners, some of whom were serving long sentences for multiple murders when released to kill Ukrainians instead. An ever-increasing number of such individuals are committing horrific crimes when they return to Russia. Few Russians ask about the crimes these individuals are committing in Ukraine. It is those who speak out against Russia’s war of aggression and about its war crimes who get imprisoned by the present regime.
