SSU has Identified Those Responsible for Missile Strike on Village of Hroza in Kharkiv Region

The Security Service of Ukraine has charged five Russian commanders and two gunners in connection with the missile strike on the village of Hroza in the Kharkiv region.

This was reported by the Book of Torturers project.

Among the suspects are:

• Alexey Rostyslavovych Kim (September 21, 1958) — a native of the village of Bezrichna in the Chita region, Russian Federation. Colonel General of the Russian Army; at the time of the crime, he was Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces and Chief of Staff — First Deputy Commander of the Joint Main Command (Air and Space Forces) of the Russian Armed Forces.
• Serhii Mykhailovych Pinchuk (July 26, 1971) — a native of Sevastopol. Vice Admiral of the Russian Army; at the time of the crime, he was the Chief of the Center for Joint Planning and Coordination of Fire Support and Deputy Commander (for Fire Support) of the Joint Forces Command (Naval Forces) of the Russian Armed Forces.
• Alexey Anatolyevich Petrushin (September 21, 1964) — a native of Kaliningrad, Russian Federation. Rear Admiral of the Russian Armed Forces; at the time of the crime, he was the head of the Intelligence Directorate (Enemy Fire Control) of the Joint Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.
• Dmitry Viktorovich Kozlovsky (January 31, 1971) — a native of the village of Chernigovka, Primorsky Krai, Russian Federation. Colonel in the Russian Armed Forces. At the time of the crime, he was the Chief of Missile Forces and Artillery of the Main Operational Directorate (Air and Space) of the Russian Armed Forces.
• Ivan Alekseevich Petrov (October 20, 1985) — a native of the city of Pskov, Russian Federation. Colonel in the Russian Armed Forces. At the time of the crime, he was the commander of the 119th Missile Brigade (Military Unit 49547) of the 41st Guards Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District of the Russian Federation Armed Forces.
• Dmytro Serhiiovych Mamon (September 4, 2000) — a native of the village of Hroza, the Shevchenkivskyi district of the Kharkiv region. At the time of the crime, he was a local collaborator and “acting inspector of the traffic patrol service” in the illegal law enforcement agency of the occupying authorities; prior to the full-scale invasion, he was a police officer in the patrol police response unit of the Main Directorate of the National Police in the Kharkiv region.
• Vladimir Serhiiovych Mamon (April 24, 1993) — a native of the town of Shevchenkove, the Shevchenkivskyi district of the Kharkiv region. At the time of the crime, he was a local collaborator and ‘acting police driver’ in the illegal law enforcement agency of the occupying authorities; prior to the full-scale invasion, he was a police driver with the Main Department of the National Police in the Kharkiv region

Five Russian military commanders are charged with violations of the laws and customs of war, combined with intentional murder (Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 28, and Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Two gunners have also been notified of suspicion of high treason (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The criminal proceedings regarding these allegations were entered into the Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations under No. 12023220000001159 on October 5, 2023.

Circumstances of the Crime

On October 5, 2023, at approximately 1:15 p.m., Russian troops launched a targeted missile strike on a civilian facility in the village of Hroza, the Kupianskyi district of the Kharkiv region. The missile struck the Sputnik café at 40 Zelena Street, where a memorial luncheon was being held at the time following the reburial of a Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemember. A large number of local residents were present at the event.

For the attack, the Russian military used a 9M723F ballistic missile from the 9K720 Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system. It was equipped with a 480-kg high-explosive fragmentation warhead—a high-precision weapon of indiscriminate action with a probable circular error probability of 10–30 meters.

The missile was launched from a launch site near the village of Arkhipovka in the Voronezh region of the Russian Federation.

As a result of the strike, the café building was completely destroyed. Fifty-nine civilians were killed, including one child. Five more civilians sustained injuries of varying severity.

The investigation established that the strike was carried out after Russian military personnel received information from local collaborators—the brothers Dmitry and Vladimir Mamonov—about the possible presence of Ukrainian servicemen at the event. At the same time, the gunners were fully aware that a large number of Hroza civilians would be gathering for the memorial lunch.

Despite this, the Russian command decided to use high-precision, high-powered weapons, fully aware of the inevitability of mass casualties among the civilian population, thereby grossly violating the norms of international humanitarian law.

The final decision to carry out the strike was made by Colonel General Kim, who issued the combat order to launch the missile.

Vice Admiral Pinchuk assessed the ‘importance and nature’ of the target and, based on information received by Rear Admiral Petrushin from the collaborating brothers, submitted a proposal to Kim for approval to carry out a missile strike.

After General Kim approved the decision, the order was relayed to lower levels of command. Colonel Kozlovsky, Chief of the Missile Forces, designated the weapon and the specific tactical group, while Colonel.

Petrov, commander of the 119th Missile Brigade, relayed the order to the troops and ensured the launch of the Iskander-M missile by the brigade’s personnel.