Russian OMON Lieutenant Colonel Linked to Kyiv War Crimes Killed in Car Explosion

A Russian police lieutenant colonel accused of committing war crimes in Ukraine’s Kyiv region was killed in a car explosion in Russia’s Kemerovo region on Oct. 25, 2025, Ukraine’s Military Intelligence (HUR) said.

The officer, Veniamin Vladimirovich Mazherin, born in 1980, served in the OMON special unit “Obereg,” part of Russia’s National Guard in Kemerovo Oblast.

“Obereg” is among several Russian units implicated in atrocities in the Kyiv region during Russia’s full-scale invasion in February-March 2022, including killings of civilians, forced deportations, and other crimes against the Ukrainian population.

Ukraine’s Office of the Prosecutor General has opened criminal investigations against members of the unit for violations of the laws and customs of war, based on evidence and eyewitness accounts.

HUR said it identified the members of “Obereg” by name as early as April 2022 and planned measures to hold them accountable. The intelligence service warned that every war crime committed against the Ukrainian people would face “just retribution.”

Earlier this year, on Aug. 22, three Russian soldiers who participated in war crimes in Bucha, Kyiv region, were killed in an explosion in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region.

The blast occurred in the yard of a house in Kalynove, Kadiivka city community, where six Russian soldiers were staying with military vehicles, according to Ukraine’s Intel.

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The soldiers had been part of a mobile air defense group covering a Russian military repair base.

The explosion destroyed two pickup trucks with mounted machine guns, a UAZ military vehicle loaded with ammunition, and killed three soldiers. Two others were severely injured.

These incidents are part of Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to track and hold accountable Russian forces responsible for atrocities committed during the 2022 invasion.