On May 27, 2026, the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in Kyiv and the Kyiv region served a notice of suspicion under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine on a Russian officer who took part in the offensive on Kyiv in 2022.

Who is the suspect

Andrey Aleksandrovich Karkin (born June 2, 1985) is a native of the village of Ust-Kiran in Buryatia. At the time of the crime, he was the commander of a reconnaissance platoon of a motorized rifle battalion in the 37th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 36th Combined Arms Army of the Eastern Military District of the Armed Forces of the russian federation (military unit 69647).

Call sign — Svinets (i.e. Lead). Rank — lieutenant.

Circumstances of the crime

From March 4 to 5, 2022, Karkin and his unit were stationed in the village of Vyshegrad in Bucha district, Kyiv region, which was temporarily occupied by russian forces.

On March 4, at approximately 3:30 p.m., armed russian servicemen arrived at a house located at 3A Kyivska Street, where a civilian man lived. Karkin, who commanded the unit, ordered his subordinates to force local residents out of their homes and gather them in the courtyard of the house.

The following morning, no later than 11:30 a.m., one of the subordinate soldiers brought the homeowner into the courtyard, where Karkin was standing together with other servicemen.

When the victim approached Karkin, the officer accused him of directing artillery fire, pointed a sniper rifle at him, chambered a round, and ordered him to stand against the wall while threatening to shoot him.

A few minutes later, another russian serviceman with the call sign “Stary” came into the yard and told Karkin that the marks discovered were not actually related to artillery fire adjustment. Only after that did Karkin lower his weapon, which had been aimed at the unarmed civilian.

Suspicion

Karkin is suspected of cruel treatment of civilians. His actions are classified as a violation of the laws and customs of war under Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

By his actions, the suspect violated a number of international legal provisions, including the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons, Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions, and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The investigation was entered into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations under No. 12022250330000040 on March 24, 2022.