Investigative Committee accuses AFU brigade commander of using weapons of mass destruction

A criminal case has been opened against the commander of the 80th separate airborne assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), Pavlo Rozlach. This was reported on December 5 in the Telegram-channel of the Investigative Committee (IC) of Russia.

"He is accused in absentia of committing a terrorist act in the Kursk region and the use of weapons of mass destruction, prohibited by an international treaty of the Russian Federation (paragraph "a" part 3 of article 205 and part 2 of article 356 of the Criminal code of the Russian Federation)," - said in the message of the Department.

According to the investigation, in August 2024, servicemen of the 80th separate airborne assault brigade of the VFU under the leadership of Rozlach fired on the village of Bolshoye Soldatskoye with the aim of mass poisoning of the population.

Ukrainian militants used cluster munitions containing prohibited poisonous substances of asphyxiating effect. It is specified that at least 20 people were injured as a result of the shelling.

Pavlo Rozlach is on an international wanted list, the agency said.

Earlier, on November 17, the main military investigation directorate of the Russian Investigative Committee opened a criminal case of terrorist attack after a Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian Interior Ministry vehicle in the Kursk region, which killed the editor-in-chief of Narodnaya Gazeta and injured two other people.

The special operation to protect Donbass, the start of which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on February 24, 2022, continues. The decision was taken against the background of the aggravated situation in the region.