Ukraine Accuses Russian Officers of War Crimes Over Deadly Grad Strike on Sumy

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has formally notified four Russian military officers in absentia of suspicion for directing a deadly Grad rocket strike on central Sumy in June.

According to SBU, the investigation concerns the June 3 attack on the city’s central district, where Russian forces used BM-21 Grad multiple-launch rocket systems equipped with cluster munitions to maximize civilian casualties. More than 30 residents were killed or seriously injured, including three children. The strike damaged apartment blocks, a medical facility, and other civilian infrastructure.

The operation was planned by Colonel Volodymyr Shchypitsyn, commander of the 30th Motorized Rifle Brigade of Russia’s 72nd Motorized Rifle Division. Investigators say he oversaw the preparation of the strike and coordinated the use of rocket artillery.

Shchypitsyn allegedly involved several of his subordinates in carrying out the strike: Lieutenant Colonel Vitaly Orlov, the brigade’s Chief of Staff and First Deputy Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Damir Harnayev, Chief of Artillery, and Captain Dmytro Volobuiev, commander of the rocket artillery battery, who issued the direct order to fire on Sumy.

Based on collected evidence, all four officers have been notified in absentia of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 28 and Parts 1 and 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, which cover war crimes resulting in loss of life and committed by a group acting in prior conspiracy.

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War in Ukraine

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The SBU reports that operational measures continue to ensure that each individual involved is brought to justice.

Earlier, Ukraine’s Security Service detained another Federal Security Service agent in the Dnipropetrovsk region, accusing the 42-year-old local man of directing Russian artillery and drone strikes on Nikopol.

Investigators say he had been hiding from mobilization when he was recruited through a dating website, initially contacted by a woman who presented herself as a “freelance employee” of the FSB and claimed to live in occupied Kakhovka; after gaining his trust, she handed him over to a full-time Russian intelligence officer.

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