Torture, Extortion, and Murder: General Sent to Pretrial Detention Center in Russia Over Yastreb PMC Case

In Russia, Major General Alexandr Dembitsky, former commander of the 44th Army Corps, has been arrested in connection with the case involving the private military company Yastreb, whose leadership is accused of murder, extortion, kidnapping, and torture of its own fighters.

This was reported by The Moscow Times.

The Garrison Military Court remanded Dembitsky to the Lefortovo pretrial detention center for two months.

Investigators believe the general was involved in organizing a scheme to embezzle payments intended for military personnel, resulting in the misappropriation of more than 8.8 million rubles.

The arrest is linked to an investigation into the activities of the so-called Yastreb private military company, which operated out of the 22nd Motor Rifle Division, part of the 44th Army Corps of the Leningrad Military District, commanded by the detained general.

The criminal case was opened in February 2025, and more than 800 witnesses have already been questioned as part of the investigation.

On the eve of the general’s arrest, the Belgorod court began hearing the case against the founder of the Yastreb private military company, Alexei Marushchenko, and his accomplices.

According to the investigation, representatives of the PMC persuaded recruits to join Yastreb by promising higher pay and no problems with their service, after which they demanded money from them to process paperwork, purchase drones and equipment, or in exchange for a promise not to send them to the front lines.

The defendants are also accused of kidnapping and torturing a servicemember in the Belgorod region, as well as kidnapping a Russian so-called military correspondent who was providing law enforcement with information about the PMC’s crimes. Eighty-nine servicemembers have been recognized as victims in the case.

It is reported that Marushchenko entered into a plea agreement with investigators and testified. His accomplices have been charged with murder, illegal possession of weapons, violation of the inviolability of the home, fraud, extortion, kidnapping, and torture.

According to the General Staff of Ukraine, the Russians created, among other things, the so-called Yastreb military company to push the Wagner Group mercenaries out of the information space.

Recently, German journalists from the Die Spur project published an investigation into Russia’s creation of a covert international system for recruiting foreign citizens to participate in the war against Ukraine.