The Office of the Prosecutor-General of Ukraine, through its Telegram channel, has announced that a pre-trial investigation is ongoing following identification by the Kyiv regional prosecutor's office of the Russian soldier responsible for the killing of a civilian and attempted murder of his son in occupied Bucha.
The soldier has been notified that he is suspected of premeditated murder and cruel treatment of civilians.
According to the investigation, in March 2022, a father and his 14-year-old son were cycling to a humanitarian aid distribution point in Bucha when a Russian soldier stopped them on a street. The civilians were unarmed and wearing white armbands as a sign of their civilian status. Despite the absence of apparent danger, the soldier fired two shots, first at the father and then at the son. The father died in front of his son, while the son fell to the ground. The soldier then attempted to shoot the son in the head, but the bullet hit the hood of his jacket. The boy remained motionless on the ground until the soldier left, after which he sought help from locals.
In November, Nikita Chibrin, a Russian soldier from the 64th Motorized Rifle Brigade, which is alleged to have committed crimes in Bucha, escaped from the front and told The Insider about the horrors of war he had witnessed.