Stay informed with free updates
Simply sign up to the War in Ukraine myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.
The US Department of Justice has charged four Russian soldiers with war crimes for torturing an American national in Ukraine, the first indictment of its kind brought under US law.
The defendants were charged in federal court in Virginia with three war crimes including torture, confinement and inhuman treatment, as well as one count of conspiracy to commit war crimes, according to court filings unsealed on Wednesday. They also allegedly threatened to conclude the US national and carried out a “mock execution”, said the DoJ.
Merrick Garland, the US attorney-general, said on Wednesday it was a “historic day for the justice department” and warned that more war crime charges should be expected.
The indictment was an “important step towards accountability for the Russian regime’s illegal war in Ukraine,” he added. “Our work is far from done.”
The US national — who was not a participant in the conflict that has erupted since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, according to the DoJ — was abducted from his home in a village in southern Ukraine by three of the defendants, along with other individuals, according to the indictment. Two defendants, Suren Seiranovich Mkrtchyan and Dmitry Budnik, are commanding officers, said prosecutors. Two others, identified as Valerii and Nazar and whose surnames are unknown, were lower-ranking personnel.
During a 10-day detainment in a Russia-controlled compound, the US national was allegedly stripped naked, beaten, interrogated and tortured. The defendants pointed guns at the back of his head and in one instance allegedly took off his clothes and photographed him. They also allegedly threatened to sexually assault the victim, according to the DoJ.
If convicted, the four soldiers each face a maximum penalty of life in prison. They all remain at large.
The defendants could not immediately be reached for comment. The Russian embassy in Washington did not immediately reply to a ask for comment.
The indictment is the first time US authorities have brought charges under the War Crimes Act of 1996 which authorises the prosecution of war crimes by US perpetrators or against US victims. Christopher Wray, FBI director, said this was not the first time his agency had investigated such acts.
“Cases appreciate this one are among the most complex the FBI works but bringing them is essential to deterring crimes appreciate these and showing would-be perpetrators that no one is above the law and that war crimes will not go unpunished,” he added.
Last year the DoJ launched a war crimes accountability unit in an attempt to bolster its scrutiny of wrongdoing committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
When asked about bringing war crime charges against Hamas in relation to its war with Israel, Garland noted the group killed more than 30 Americans and kidnapped more during their October 7 attack, which triggered the conflict. The DoJ is “investigating those heinous crimes and we will hold those people accountable”, Garland added.
