Ukraine suspects Russian soldier of killing five unarmed servicemen and one civilian in Kharkiv region
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) notified a 36-year-old Russian serviceman, identified as Leonid Ryzhikov of Saint Petersburg, of suspicion of killing five Ukrainian servicemen and one civilian in the Kharkiv region. The suspect was detained on October 14, 2026, in Kharkiv and faces life imprisonment under Ukraine's war-crimes statute.
Key points
- Suspect: 36-year-old Russian citizen Leonid Ryzhikov, call sign "Yula," resident of Saint Petersburg.
- Ryzhikov served in the 2nd Battalion of the 1009th Motor Rifle Regiment, 68th Motor Rifle Division, 6th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Armed Forces.
- He was mobilized into the Russian army at the end of July 2026 after serving 8 years in prison for grievous bodily harm and theft.
- On October 5–6, Ryzhikov fled his position near the village of Starytsia in Chuhuiv district after coming under Ukrainian fire.
- On October 13, he shot dead a 60-year-old civilian fisherman near Mykhailivka and later that day killed five unarmed Ukrainian servicemen in civilian clothes in the village of Momotove; some were sleeping.
- The five slain servicemen belonged to the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Black Zaporozhians.
- Ryzhikov was detained on October 14 in the Saltivskyi district of Kharkiv and notified of suspicion on October 15 under Part 2 of Article 438 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (war crimes resulting in death); he faces life imprisonment.
Why it matters
The case documents a specific alleged war crime attributed by Ukrainian authorities to an identified individual Russian soldier — the killing of six people, including five unarmed servicemen in civilian clothes framed as civilians under the Geneva Convention. The suspect's prior criminal record, mobilization background and unit affiliation illustrate who Russia has been sending to fight in Ukraine. Ryzhikov's detention and the war-crimes notification under Article 438 mark a high-profile criminal proceeding that strengthens Ukraine's documented record of alleged Russian war crimes.
What happened
On October 15, 2026, Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) and the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office announced that a Russian serviceman had been served with formal suspicion of killing one civilian and five Ukrainian servicemen in Kharkiv Oblast. The suspect is 36-year-old Leonid Ryzhikov, a Saint Petersburg resident with the call sign "Yula," who served in the 2nd Battalion of the 1009th Motor Rifle Regiment of the 68th Motor Rifle Division, 6th Combined Arms Army. According to the SBU, he was mobilized at the end of July 2026 after serving eight years in prison, and was deployed to the Chuhuiv district. On around October 5–6, he fled his position near the village of Starytsia after coming under Ukrainian fire and began making his way on foot toward Kharkiv. During his movement, he is reported to have stolen civilian clothing from an abandoned house. On October 13, near the village of Mykhailivka, he shot and killed a 60-year-old civilian who was fishing at a pond and pushed the body into the water. On the same day, he entered a private house in the village of Momotove where five Ukrainian servicemen were temporarily staying. The SBU said the servicemen were unarmed, in civilian clothes and not taking part in combat — qualifying them as civilians under the Geneva Convention — and that Ryzhikov shot them all, some while they slept. After the killings, he hid his AK-74 in a nearby dacha-garden cooperative building and moved toward Kharkiv through forest belts. On October 14, SBU officers together with National Police and National Guard personnel detained Ryzhikov in the Saltivskyi district of Kharkiv; his AK-74 was recovered. On October 15, he was notified of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 438 of Ukraine's Criminal Code (war crimes resulting in death). He faces life imprisonment if convicted. The 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Black Zaporozhians confirmed the five killed servicemen were its soldiers.
How Ukrainian sources describe it
All the sources are Ukrainian media and agencies, and they frame the episode unambiguously as a war crime by an identified Russian soldier. Coverage is built around the SBU's narrative, foregrounding the suspect's Russian military unit, his mobilization and prior criminal record, and emphasizing that the five servicemen were in civilian clothes and therefore civilians under the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Several outlets carried details from the interrogation video released by the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office, in which Ryzhikov admitted guilt, reinforcing the evidentiary picture presented by Ukrainian law enforcement.
Where reporting differs
Sources differ on the circumstances under which the suspect acquired civilian clothes during his movement toward Kharkiv. One version places a robbery of an abandoned house near a lake on October 9, with the suspect changing into the clothes there; the SBU's account describes him as robbing an abandoned private house for civilian clothes at an unspecified point during his movement, without specifying October 9. Sources are also inconsistent about the year the suspect was mobilized into the Russian army — some citing 2026 explicitly, others giving only "the end of July" without the year.
Background
The suspect was a Saint Petersburg resident with a prior eight-year prison sentence for intentionally causing grievous bodily harm and theft; he was mobilized into the Russian army at the end of July and deployed to the Chuhuiv district of Kharkiv Oblast. The alleged killings took place after he fled his position near the village of Starytsia in Chuhuiv district on around October 5–6 and moved on foot toward Kharkiv. The five Ukrainian servicemen killed belonged to the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Black Zaporozhians, according to that brigade.