The State Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said it had opened a criminal investigation into Andrii Ruzynskyi, a Russian commander identified by Reuters last year as helping lead the military occupation of eastern Ukraine.

Ruzynskiy was the commander of Russia’s Baltic Fleet’s 11th Army Corps, which entered Ukraine in early 2022 and took control of a number of towns south of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

The SBU report states that Ruzynskyi, who is in Russia, was informed of the suspicion of conspiracy to carry out acts of military aggression.

According to Ukrainian officials and residents, he gave orders to shell populated areas with heavy weapons and gave orders to the military commandant in the city of Balaklia, where there were several cases of torture of civilians.

Russia withdrew from this area last September.

Russian documents left after the withdrawal of Russian troops prove the role of Ruzynskyi in Balaklia

Reuters was unable to reach Ruzinsky at his phone numbers, and the Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Kremlin has repeatedly denied reports that its troops committed war crimes or attacked civilians.

In a special report published last October, Reuters showed how soldiers of the 11th Army Corps occupied the area around Balaklia in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine.

The report, based on Russian military documents discovered in an abandoned command bunker, named Ruzynski as part of the chain of command overseeing Russian forces.

In addition, Reuters also found four documents that identified Ruzynski as the commander of the Balaklia Military Group, in addition to his role as head of the 11th Army Corps.

The documents contained Ruzynski’s name and role at the top of the page, with instructions on the radio callsigns to be used by the Balaklia group.

At the end of last year, Ruzinsky handed over command of the Balaklia Group to one of his subordinates, Colonel Ivan Popov, documents show.

Valery Buslov, another name associated with illegal detentions of local residents of Balaklia

In a separate story last month, Reuters named the commander in charge of protecting civilians during Russia’s six-month occupation of Balaklia. The man with the call sign “Granit” is Valery Buslov, an officer of the Russian military police of the Baltic Fleet.

After the Reuters publication this month, the SBU said that Buslov had been notified of suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war. The agency reported that Buslov organized the “illegal detention of local residents” in Balaklia.

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