The Security Service of Ukraine in Zaporizhzhia region on April 28, 2026, notified the leaders of the occupation “MVS” in Melitopol of suspicion under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Who are the suspects

• Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Yakovenko (born August 18, 1987) is a native of Melitopol. He took the position of the so-called “chief” in the illegal law enforcement body created by the occupiers — the Melitopol District Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Zaporizhzhia region.
• Anton Vladyslavovych Sapozhnikov (born November 8, 1989) took the position of the so-called “head of the criminal investigation department” in the same illegal body after the occupation of the southern part of Zaporizhzhia region. In April 2023, the Komunarskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia sentenced him to 15 years in prison for collaboration activities (Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
• Olha Valeriivna Hazheva (born May 26, 1995) is a native of the village of Bohdanivka in Pryazovske district. Before the occupation, she worked as a fitness trainer at one of Melitopol’s establishments and is now a mouthpiece for the city’s occupation authorities.

Circumstances of the crime

At around 10:00 a.m. on May 21, 2022, representatives of armed formations of the russian federation (the so-called “DPR”) detained a civilian man who at the time worked at a local enterprise and did not take part in hostilities. The victim’s head, arms and legs were wrapped with adhesive tape, after which he was forcibly taken to a checkpoint on the E58 highway, where he was illegally detained until the following morning, before Sapozhnikov arrived for him.

At approximately 12:00 p.m., the man was thrown into the trunk of a car and taken to a torture site where at least 15 other civilians were already being held.

Over the following eight days, the victim was held in unsanitary conditions without sufficient food, water, sleeping places or medical assistance.

From May 22 to May 29, 2022, Yakovenko and Sapozhnikov systematically arrived at the detention site every night from 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. for interrogations aimed at forcing the man to cooperate.

Yakovenko, while intoxicated, personally beat the victim with his hands, feet, a rubber baton and the butt of an assault rifle on the head, torso, arms, legs and genitals. He also threatened that the man would be raped. As a result of the beating, the victim suffered a concussion.

To break the man’s will, he was forced to watch Sapozhnikov beat other prisoners with a baseball bat. He also pretended he was about to strike the victim and threatened to kill him.

During one of these interrogations, Hazheva was present and, while Yakovenko and Sapozhnikov were beating prisoners, filmed the abuse on her mobile phone for entertainment purposes.

After eight days, having failed to obtain the desired information or the victim’s consent to cooperate, Sapozhnikov released the man from the illegal detention site at around 10:00 a.m. on May 29, 2022.

Suspicion

The actions of all three suspects were classified under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war).

The criminal proceedings were entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations under No. 12022080000000098 dated March 8, 2022.