Russian Officer Linked to Bucha Massacre Appointed Deputy Minister in Orenburg

Nursultan Mussagaliyev, a former commander in the Russian army implicated in mass torture and killings in Ukraine’s Kyiv region, has been appointed Acting Deputy Minister of Regional and Information Policy for Russia’s Orenburg region, regional head Denis Pasler announced on February 6.

According to Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU), Mussagaliyev crossed Ukraine’s northern border on February 24, 2022, as part of Russian forces advancing toward Kyiv. He operated in the Bucha district, where some of the war’s worst war crimes were committed.

Mussagaliyev served as the commander of a reconnaissance platoon in the 104th Air Assault Regiment of Russia’s 76th Air Assault Division, based in Pskov. During his deployment in Bucha, he participated in so-called “clearing operations” aimed at crushing local resistance and terrorizing the civilian population.

According to the SBU, during one of the “clearing operations”, Mussagaleyev ordered his subordinates to kidnap a 29-year-old civilian who was driving a car through a Russian checkpoint.

The reason for the detention was the photos of construction materials found in his phone, for which the man was accused of helping the Ukrainian Armed Forces to build fortifications near Kyiv.

“The victim was taken to the forest near the village of Dmitrivka, where he was brutally tortured for a long time, and then on the order of Mussagaleyev shot and left the body at the scene of the murder,” – said in the special service. The SBU also published an interrogation of a prisoner from Mussagaleyev’s unit, who confirmed the accusations.

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Following Russia’s retreat from the Kyiv region, Mussagaliyev was awarded the title “Hero of Russia” and a medal for “Combat Distinction” by Russia’s military and political leadership. Russian state media later featured him in a prime-time segment on the Russia-1 television channel, portraying him as a war hero.

Earlier, Ukrainian law enforcement officers identified the Russian serviceman responsible for attempting to kill a civilian during the Russian occupation of Bucha, Kyiv region in March 2022.