Documentation of Russian war crimes in Ukraine continues
With the assistance of the Main Intelligence Directorate (HUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, operatives of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine, and investigators of the Main Investigative Department of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), with the help of journalists from the Radio Liberty project “Schemes,” have identified two more Russian war criminals involved in the inhuman torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war: the doctor of Colony No. 7, Vyacheslav Cherdantsev, nicknamed “Konoval,” and a prisoner of this colony, Russian citizen Yaroslav Kirillov.
This was reported by the HUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, as informed by the Prompolitinform portal.
With the assistance of the HUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, operatives of the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine and investigators of the Main Investigative Department of the SBU have identified two more Russian war criminals involved in the inhuman torture of Ukrainian prisoners of war — the doctor of Colony No. 7, Vyacheslav Cherdantsev, nicknamed “Konoval,” and a prisoner of this colony, Russian citizen Yaroslav Kirillov.
Details about the identification of “Konoval” and the atrocities he committed can be found in the material by the “Schemes” project. We thank the journalists of Radio Liberty for their thorough investigation and attention to the issue of war crimes against Ukrainian citizens.
The HUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine publishes the personal data of two torturers of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
• The first — Cherdantsev Vyacheslav Nikolaevich (Russian: Черданцев Вячеслав Николаевич), nickname “Konoval,” born 29.05.1978, employee of Medical Unit No. 33, which services Colony No. 7 in the village of Pakino, Vladimir Region, Russian Federation. RNOCPP: 331701566989. SNIOR: 17353583686. Passport of a citizen of the Russian Federation: 1714366846. Registered address: Russian Federation, Vladimir Region, Kovrovsky District, Pervomaisky urban-type settlement.
• The second — Kirillov Yaroslav Alekseevich (Russian: Кириллов Ярослав Алексеевич), born 12.06.1997, citizen of the Russian Federation, convicted, serving a sentence in the aforementioned Colony No. 7. Registered address: Russian Federation, Vladimir city, Suzdalsky Ave., building 21, apartment 88.
It has been established that since October 2022, these war criminals systematically tortured Ukrainian prisoners of war, committed sexual violence against them, and cruelly humiliated their human dignity. As part of the investigation, a case of rape of a prisoner of war with a foreign object, as well as other episodes of abuse, have been documented.
The investigation established that the administration of Colony No. 7 created a system of cruel treatment of Ukrainian prisoners of war, involving both the institution’s staff and certain convicts. The purpose of the torture was to break the will of the prisoners, force them to accept citizenship of the aggressor state, and coerce them into giving false testimony.
In addition to sexual violence, other forms of torture were used: during “registration,” prisoners were forced to crawl wet and naked on the floor, while being beaten with sticks and tasers; one prisoner had a nail plate torn out without anesthesia; others were injected with unknown drugs that caused severe pain.
A sick prisoner with a temperature of over 39 degrees Celsius was brutally beaten, and the suspect stepped on his head, after which, at his instruction, an accomplice held the victim under a cold shower for 20 minutes while continuing the beating.
The colony administration deliberately kept naked prisoners with scabies together with healthy prisoners, refusing them treatment, which led to a mass outbreak of the disease. Instead of medical care, the sick were deprived of clothing and kept in cold rooms or outdoors. Access to hygiene was limited: showers were allowed once a week, and toilet paper was not provided.
The war criminal Cherdantsev (“Konoval”), among other things, drew images of genitals and obscene inscriptions on the bodies and faces of prisoners with a solution of brilliant green and gave instructions to the colony guards to beat the prisoners of war.
It was also established that the convict Kirillov, acting on the instructions of the colony administration, directly participated in the torture and psychological terror of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The use of convicts as a tool of violence is a characteristic feature of the Chekist repressive system, inherited by the penitentiary system of the aggressor state from the NKVD and the Soviet GULAG. In Putin’s Russia, this model has been transformed into so-called “press-huts” — Russian prisoners, on the orders of the prison administration, participate in the horrific torture of prisoners of war.
The documented facts of torture, inhuman treatment, rape, and other forms of sexual violence are gross violations of the Geneva Conventions and, in accordance with the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, are classified as war crimes.
It should be recalled that the identity of another war criminal has previously been established — Sorokin Ilya Anatolievich (Russian: Сорокин Илья Анатольевич), a Russian paramedic of Correctional Colony No. 10 of the Department of Execution of Punishments of the Republic of Mordovia, who tortured Ukrainian prisoners.
The HUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine reminds: for every crime committed against the Ukrainian people, there will be just retribution.
Photo: GUR of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
