“Court debates were held in Kharkiv in the case of captured Russian soldier Serhii Tuzhilov, who is accused of shooting three Ukrainian defenders in Vovchansk. The prosecutor is asking for life imprisonment for him, the sentence should be announced in January. Prosecutor Mykyta Daloka demands life imprisonment for the occupier. On December 25, the Kholodnohirsky District Court of Kharkiv held a court debate in the case of a Russian serviceman”, — write on: ua.news
Court debates were held in Kharkiv in the case of captured Russian soldier Serhii Tuzhilov, who is accused of shooting three Ukrainian defenders in Vovchansk. The prosecutor is asking for life imprisonment for him, the sentence should be announced in January. Pprosecutor Nikita Daloka demands life imprisonment for the occupier.
On December 25, the Kholodnohirsky District Court of Kharkiv held court debates in the case of Russian serviceman Serhiy Tuzhilov, commander of the grenade launcher unit of the 62nd Motorized Rifle Division of the Russian Federation. He is accused of murdering three Ukrainian soldiers who were captured in Vovchansk in the summer of 2024.
During his speech, prosecutor Mykyta Daloka stated that the circumstances of the case leave no room for mitigation, and asked the court to sentence Tuzhilov to life imprisonment. “Three Ukrainian servicemen, alive, unarmed, fully under the control of the enemy, were deprived of their lives after they surrendered. This is not an accident and not an excess – it is a system,” the prosecutor emphasized.
According to the investigation materials, one of the prisoners was personally shot by Tuzhilov. In the murder of two more, according to the prosecution, he played an active role: he gave advice to other occupiers on where to execute the shooting, and took part in escorting the prisoners to the places of murder. The dead are 33-year-old Yuriy Hyryzhuk, 37-year-old Maksym Sidegov and 47-year-old Vasyl Mulko. Their bodies have not been found and, presumably, remained on the territory of the Vovchan aggregate factory, where the fighting continued.
In her speech, the representative of the victims, Tamila Bespala, spoke about the condition of the families of the victims and the emotional burden that accompanies this process. “Is it possible to evaluate human life? And the main thing is that they will never see their relatives again,” she said, commenting on the civil lawsuits for a total of 51 million hryvnias. According to her, the defendant’s arguments about ignorance of international humanitarian law cannot be an excuse: “A person who has served in the army all his life understands that killing prisoners is a crime.”
Tuzhilov himself pleaded guilty in court, confirmed that he cooperated with the investigation, and asked not to be sentenced to life imprisonment. “Yes, I know what I did, and I repent of it. I apologize for the person I killed. But I followed the order,” he said. At the same time, the accused stated that, in his opinion, the Russian and Ukrainian armies “are not too different”, recalling the fighting in Kurshchyna.
Tuzhilov’s defense attorney Roman Umansky insisted that his client did not avoid responsibility and did not try to shift the blame onto others. According to the lawyer, sincere remorse and cooperation with the investigation should be taken into account by the court. The defense requested a sentence of 15 years in prison.
After the meeting, prosecutor Mykyta Daloka told reporters that the investigation knows the possible locations of the bodies of the dead, but there is currently no access there due to hostilities. He also said that information about the shooting first came from another captured Russian soldier amid internal conflicts in the unit due to a lack of food.
The court adjourned. On January 13, after the last word of the accused, the verdict should be announced. At the same time, investigators are preparing materials for announcing suspicions in absentia to Tuzhilov’s command, which, according to the investigation, gave orders while outside the territory of the plant.
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