Before the invasion of Ukraine, Russian troops were briefed on how and where to build the mass burial sites, which shows that Russia had been planning a genocide against Ukrainians long before the full-scale invasion, said Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, speaking at the forum “Genocidal Practices of the Russian Federation in Ukraine: From Holodomor to the Russo-Ukrainian War.”
"We have witnessed horrendous crimes against Ukrainian citizens, which have become globally recognized. The atrocities committed by Russian Armed Forces units in Borodyanka, Bucha, Hostomel, Izyum, Mariupol, and many other settlements in Ukraine demonstrated that these synchronous actions were based on the clear doctrinal policies of the Russian government’s genocidal tactics and its military leadership,” Budanov stated.
According to Budanov, the target lists included Ukrainian language and literature teachers, history teachers, war veterans, journalists, scholars, writers, priests of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and other confessions who supported Ukraine, as well as public and political figures, government and local self-government leaders. Furthermore, Russia’s preparation for genocide against the Ukrainian people allegedly involved the creation of mobile crematoriums and plans for mass burials.
Ahead of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian occupiers received briefings on the use of mass burial sites. According to UN data from October, at least 183 Ukrainian civilians, including nine children, were killed by the Russians. Another 903 people were injured. Since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, 2022, until the end of October 2024, a total of 12,162 civilians have been killed, and 26,919 have been injured.
However, these figures are far from complete and do not, for instance, account for the casualties among Mariupol’s residents. Various estimates suggest that between 20,000 to 100,000 people might have perished in this city alone.
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From the Ukrainian Center for Countering Disinformation::
War criminals are the new elite of Russia: Temirlan Abutalimov – (archived)
Temirlan Abutalimov is a Russian soldier from Dagestan and a participant in Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine.
He serves in the 70th Guards Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 58th Army from Dagestan. Before the full-scale invasion, he worked as an investigator in the local police. Following Putin’s announcement of mobilization in September 2022, Abutalimov decided to go to the front.
In 2023, during the battles for Robotyne, he rose to the position of assault company commander. Ukrainian intelligence has identified him as one of the perpetrators who ordered the execution of four captured Ukrainian soldiers. It is also suspected that Abutalimov was involved in other similar crimes. For his actions in the Robotyne area, Abutalimov was awarded the Order of Courage and later received the Hero of Russia Star.
Now, this war criminal is being positioned as part of so-called “Russian new elite”. He became a finalist in the Kremlin’s “Time of Heroes” program, completed an internship, and is preparing for a career as an official.