Denys Lytvynenko is charged with war crimes, treason, and collaboration for organizing forced conscription of Ukrainians in Crimea
The Main Directorate of the SBU in Crimea announced on 21 September 2026 that it had notified Russian military commissar Denys Lytvynenko of suspicion regarding the forced conscription of Ukrainian citizens. He is charged with war crimes, treason, and collaboration. This was reported by Book of Torturers citing Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic o, according to the portal PromPolitInform.
Denys Pavlovych Lytvynenko is a native of Vinnytsia who has long held positions in Russian occupation structures in Crimea. From 2018 to 2021, he served as head of the department of planning, assignment, training, and accounting of mobilization resources of the military commissariat of the cities of Yevpatoria and Saky, and was a member and deputy chairman of the conscription commission of the Saky district. In 2020–2021, he performed the duties of military commissar of the cities of Yevpatoria, Saky, and the Saky district of the Republic of Crimea.
From no earlier than 21 March 2023 to no later than 26 March 2024, Lytvynenko held the position of acting military commissar of the cities of Yevpatoria, Saky, and the Saky district of the Republic of Crimea under the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation. From 26 March 2024 onward, he has served as the military commissar of these cities and district.
Lytvynenko organized and facilitated the illegal conscription of Ukrainian citizens into the armed forces of the occupying state, conducted mobilization preparation and mobilization of the local civilian population, and directly oversaw measures to forcibly enlist residents of the temporarily occupied peninsula into the Russian army.
The case file documents two specific instances of conscription of Ukrainians in 2020 and 2024, when Lytvynenko personally issued and signed conscription certificates to young men after they turned 18.
Lytvynenko acted within the framework of the general policy of the occupation authorities, which conducted 22 illegal conscription campaigns in Crimea between 2015 and 2025. Within these campaigns, approximately 53,000 individuals were forcibly recruited into the occupation forces.
To pressure the civilian population, occupation courts reviewed over 625 criminal cases for evasion of conscription and issued more than 570 guilty verdicts against individuals who refused to serve in the Russian army.
Forcibly compelling civilian persons under protection in temporarily occupied territory to serve in the armed forces of the occupying state violates international humanitarian law and constitutes a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
In connection with this, Lytvynenko was notified of suspicion under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war). He is also charged with treason and collaborationist activity.
The criminal proceeding was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under No. 22026011000000078 dated 12.05.2026.
Photo: Воєнком окупантів отримав підозру
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