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Russian Soldiers Kill Seven Civilians Hiding in Basement in Pokrovsk, Including Family of Three
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Two Russian servicemen killed seven civilians who had taken shelter in the basement of a residential building in Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, on December 21.
The incident was reported by the “I Want to Live” project operated by the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.
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According to the project, information about the crime was provided by individuals within the Russian armed forces. During the night of December 21, two Russian soldiers entered the basement of a residential building in Pokrovsk, where civilians were hiding.
The suspects were identified as Rinat Galimzyanov, a rifleman from the 1st Assault Platoon of the 2nd Assault Company of the 1st Assault Battalion of the 30th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade, originally from Neftekamsk in Bashkortostan, and Oleksii Agafonov, born in 1987, from Kyakhta, a rifleman in the 2nd Assault Company of the same unit.
The report states that a father and son, Oleksandr Zavadskyi and Yaroslav Zavadskyi, approached the soldiers, who demanded alcohol. After being told that there was none in the basement, the Russian servicemen opened fire, killing both men.
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The soldiers then entered the basement and killed the remaining civilians sheltering there: Dmytro Hulko, his wife Oksana Hulko, their son Dmytro Hulko, and Oksana’s mother, Nadiia. Another man identified as Oleksandr was also killed. One individual, Petro Merontsev, was wounded but survived by pretending to be dead.
After the soldiers left the scene, Merontsev managed to escape from the basement.
According to the project, following the killings, the soldiers reported to their commander, known by the call sign “Voodoo,” claiming they had eliminated a Ukrainian Armed Forces sabotage and reconnaissance group. The building was subsequently set on fire.
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The report also notes that on December 23, Galimzyanov and Agafonov were detained by the 159th Military Commandant’s Office and transferred to Selydove.
“Given that the incident did not receive public attention, there may be attempts to suppress information about the killings,” the statement said.
Earlier, Russian troops executed two Ukrainian soldiers after taking them prisoner in the village of Shakhove, located in the Pokrovsk district of the Donetsk region, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office.
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-111f0e5095e02c02446ffed57bfb0ab1.jpeg "Photo of Roman Kohanets")
