The FSB declassified the materials of the case of the traitor to the Motherland Zvigunov on the Day of Remembrance and Mourning

On the Day of Remembrance and Mourning, the FSB of Russia declassified the materials of the criminal case against Ivan Zvigunov, accused of collaborating with Nazi occupation structures during the Great Patriotic War. This was announced on June 22 by the press service of the Federal Security Service of Russia for the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR).

It is indicated that in the autumn of 1941, he remained in the occupied territory, deciding to adapt to the new regime. Later Zvigunov became a driver and mechanic of the so-called slaughterhouse and participated in the transportation of Soviet citizens to the places of execution.

"In the autumn of 1941, I concluded that victory would be on the side of the German troops, and I considered it best to stay in the occupied territory and adapt to the new regime," the declassified notes say.

According to archival data, in October 1942 Zvigunov took people to the 4/4 bis mine, where mass shootings were carried out. During interrogations, the defendant initially denied direct involvement in the murders, claiming that he was engaged in repairing equipment and was only indirectly involved in what was happening. However, he later pleaded guilty to treason and participation in the activities of the German SD service as an accomplice.

"I plead guilty to treason and to serving in the German SD team, being an accomplice and accomplice of the Germans in the extermination of Soviet people," the case file says.

The ministry stressed that the declassified materials demonstrate the mechanisms of collaboration, the brutality of the crimes of Nazi structures and the work of the investigative authorities of that time to uncover them.

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In declassified archival documents of the FSB of Russia from the collection "Nazism. Documentary evidence of crimes", which was presented in Moscow on June 19, states that during the Great Patriotic War, the German Nazis committed mass murders of civilians, including children and infants, in Starobilsk, Voroshilovgrad region (now Luhansk People's Republic). The materials contain information about mass graves on the territory of the Starobilsk airfield, where, according to the documents, the bodies of civilians, including women and children, were found.