Counterintelligence, military counterintelligence and investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) have gathered evidence against two russian military commanders involved in missile strikes on Reuters journalists in Donetsk region and the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv.
According to the case materials, one of the suspects is russian Major General Nikolai Varpahovich, commander of the 22nd Heavy Bomber Aviation Division of the russian Armed Forces.
The investigation found that on 8 July 2024, the officer issued a combat order to carry out a missile strike on the National Specialized Children’s Hospital Okhmatdyt in Kyiv.At the time, long-range aviation units under Varpakhovych’s command carried out a targeted strike on the medical facility using a Kh-101 air-to-surface cruise missile launched from a russian Tu-95MS missile-carrying bomber.
More than 600 patients were in the hospital at the time of the attack. Two people, including a doctor, were killed, and dozens more were injured. The missile completely destroyed the toxicology building and damaged four other buildings where surgical operations were performed and children with cancer were treated.
The second suspect is russian Colonel Alexander Lutovinov, commander of a missile brigade of the 49th Combined Arms Army of russia’s Southern Military District.
According to investigators, he organised the missile strike on the Sapphire hotel complex in Kramatorsk on 24 August 2024. The attack killed a security adviser to the international news agency Reuters and injured five of his colleagues to varying degrees.
According to the investigation, the decision to carry out the strike was made by Colonel General Alexey Kim, deputy chief of the General Staff of the russian Armed Forces. The SBU has already notified him of the charges in absentia.
Acting on Kim’s criminal order, Lutovinov directly instructed his subordinates to launch an Iskander-M ballistic missile from russia’s Rostov region.
Investigators from the SBU’s Main Investigation Department notified Varpahovich and Lutovinov in absentia that they were suspected of violating Part 2 of Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code – war crimes resulting in loss of life.
