The nation’s top law enforcement officials on Wednesday announced war crimes charges against four Russian soldiers accused of torturing an American in the Ukraine war – saying it was the first time the United States has brought an indictment based on a war crimes statute passed nearly 30 years ago.
The charges unsealed Wednesday in federal court in Virginia include torture, mistreatment, and unlawful confinement of an American citizen who was living in Ukraine following the Russian invasion of its neighbor in 2022.
The four people charged – Suren Seiranovich Mkrtchyan, 45, Dmitry Budnik, and two others whose full names are not yet known – allegedly interrogated, tortured, and threatened to kill the victim, even holding a mock execution. The alleged torment occurred over 10 days in April 2022. All four men remain at large, and the chances of them being captured or turned over to U.S. authorities are low.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray, and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced the charges Wednesday morning at Justice Department headquarters, describing the men as Russian soldiers and accusing them of heinous crimes.
“The Justice Department – and the American people – have a long memory,” Garland said. “We will not forget the atrocities in Ukraine. And we will never stop working to bring those responsible to justice.”
The indictment says that Mkrtchyan and Budnik were commanding officers of military units of the Russian Armed Forces and/or the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic. The two others, known only by their first names, Valerii and Nazar, were lower-ranking military personnel. U.S. officials said the men were fighting on behalf of Russia when they allegedly tortured the American.
Garland said the victim was not fighting in the conflict and, under international law, was considered a “protected person.” The indictment portrays chilling abuse allegations in which the four men repeatedly beat the victim and made him think he was about to be killed – at one point even asking for his last words.
The men pointed a gun to the back of his head and then moved the weapon slightly, shooting a bullet just past the victim’s head, the indictment alleges. They are accused of photographing him naked and threatening to sexually assault him.
Kidnapping and torturing a protected person would constitute a war crime.
The prosecution grew out of an evidence-sharing agreement struck last year between the U.S. Justice Department and its Ukrainian counterparts.
The U.S. government often prosecutes cases in which Americans are abducted, killed, or attacked overseas, but it has not, until now, pursued any of those types of cases as war crimes – a specific category of crimes committed in the course of a military conflict. A statute Congress passed in the mid-1990s gives the Justice Department authority to bring such charges. Garland said he expects to launch additional war crimes prosecutions.
Asked by reporters whether the Justice Department plans to seek charges against members of Hamas who attacked and killed U.S. citizens in Israel on Oct. 7, Garland replied: “Hamas murdered more than 30 Americans and kidnapped more. . . . We are investigating those heinous crimes and we will hold those people accountable.”
Since forming the War Crimes Accountability Team, the Justice Department has been gathering evidence from Ukraine for cases that could be brought in U.S. courts – particularly any crimes committed against Americans.
Garland has pledged to be “relentless” in helping Ukraine hunt down war criminals associated with the Russian invasion.
The conflict, now almost two years old, has become a flash point on Capitol Hill, with Republicans demanding politically fraught changes to asylum and other immigration policies in exchange for Ukraine funding.
A counteroffensive by Ukraine that began last summer, with strong backing from the United States, has failed to deliver its expected punch. Ukraine’s struggles have prompted friction and second-guessing between Washington and Kyiv and called into question Ukraine’s ability to retake decisive amounts of territory occupied by Russia.
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