British newspaper The Sunday Times has identified 13 Russian soldiers and officers suspected of killing civilians who attempted to flee Kyiv during Russia’s initial advance in February and March 2022.
The investigation, published on Saturday, Feb. 7, focuses on shootings of civilian vehicles along the Zhytomyr Highway west of Kyiv – a route used by families escaping the fighting in the early days of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
According to the report, Russian troops killed at least 27 civilians over a three-week period while guarding the rear of a Russian column advancing from Belarus toward the Ukrainian capital. Five people were wounded, and at least one survivor was left permanently disabled, the newspaper said.
Civilians shot while fleeing
The Sunday Times reported that the victims were unarmed civilians traveling in private vehicles, often with children. Investigators believe Russian soldiers opened fire on cars approaching their positions and later attempted to destroy evidence by burning vehicles with bodies still inside.
The newspaper cited Ukrainian police and intelligence officials as saying there were no Ukrainian military positions near the locations of the shootings, and that the attacks appeared to target civilians attempting to flee the Kyiv suburbs.
Ukrainian investigators are treating the killings as possible war crimes and crimes against humanity, the report said.
Units and commanders identified
According to the investigation, the suspects include seven soldiers from Russia’s 5th Tank Brigade and six from the 37th Motorized Rifle Brigade. The units were allegedly deployed along the highway to secure Russian supply lines during the advance on Kyiv.
Among those named are Lieutenant Colonel Roman Nikolaenko and Major Tkharo Abataev of the 5th Tank Brigade, as well as Lieutenant Vadim Ovchinnikov, a platoon commander in the 37th Motorized Rifle Brigade.
The newspaper said the identities were established using Ukrainian prosecutorial documents, evidence gathered by national police, interviews with intelligence officials, captured duty rosters, military insignia left behind during the Russian retreat, and drone footage filmed in the early weeks of the invasion.
Legal steps, broader investigations
Ukrainian prosecutors have issued formal notices of suspicion to all but one of the 13 suspects, who is believed to be deceased. Such notices are a preliminary step toward prosecution in Ukrainian courts and could also support future cases at the International Criminal Court, the report said.
The investigation follows earlier reporting by The Sunday Times that identified Russian commanders allegedly responsible for atrocities in Bucha, where hundreds of civilians were killed during the Russian occupation in early 2022.
Ukrainian authorities have said that identifying individual perpetrators and tracing chains of command is critical to holding Russia accountable for war crimes committed during the invasion, even if prosecutions take years.