The SBI detained members of the "people's guard" who brutally killed local residents during the occupation of a village in Kharkiv region

The SBI employees exposed 4 people who brutally murdered two local residents during the occupation of Khotimlia village in Chuhuiv district. Two suspects were detained.

According to the investigation, a former law enforcer, an employee of the State Emergency Service and two civilians remained in the territory occupied by russia during the temporary occupation of the village. In March 2022, after the russian military entered the Chuhuiv district, the defendants decided not to wait for the russians to organize occupation authorities in the village and formed a "people's guard" brigade.

They started to "control the order", conducted "explanatory work" with the locals and punished them for theft and other misdemeanours. The SBI is currently checking information about the suspects' cooperation with russian armed groups while they were in Khotimla.

The defendants, in particular, decided to punish two local residents who were suspected of theft. Taking a baseball bat, rebar, wooden and metal sticks, they broke into the victims' house. First, the man and woman were severely beaten, and then the semi-conscious people were dragged to a local lake and thrown into the water from a steep bank. As the victims were still showing signs of life, they decided to finish them off. To do this, they started throwing fragments of a concrete foundation on the shore at their heads. After making sure that the victims were dead, the perpetrators left the crime scene.

During the de-occupation of the village, the former law enforcement officer and one of his accomplices fled to the Russian Federation. The other two stayed behind and were detained by the SBI.

Currently, two detainees have been notified of suspicion of the premeditated murder of two people committed by a group of persons (Part 2 of Article 115 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), and if the information that the defendants worked for the occupiers is confirmed, they will also be notified of suspicion of treason.

Two of their accomplices, who fled during the de-occupation, were served with a notice of suspicion in absentia.

The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of life imprisonment.

Procedural supervision is carried out by the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office.