On June 5, 2026, the Security Service of Ukraine's Mykolaiv Regional Office announced charges against two russian military commanders accused of involvement in the missile strike on the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration building in March 2022.

Who are the suspects

Nikolay Viktorovich Horaychuk (born February 16, 1979) is a native of Pisochnoye village in russia's Kostroma region. He is a colonel in the russian Armed Forces and served as acting commander of the 12th Missile Brigade of the 58th Combined Arms Army of russia's Southern Military District from October 2021 to September 2022.

Mikhail Stepanovich Zusko (born May 24, 1972) is a native of Vetly village in Ukraine's Volyn region who holds russian citizenship. He is a lieutenant general in the russian Armed Forces and served as commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District from August 2020 to August 2022.

Circumstances of the crime

According to the investigation, the order to carry out the missile strike on the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration building originated from the commander of russia's Southern Military District, Army General Aleksandr Dvornikov, who was charged in the case in February 2025.

As commander of the 58th Combined Arms Army, Zusko issued the combat order to the 12th Missile Brigade, which was stationed in occupied Crimea at the time. Horaychuk, acting commander of the brigade, is accused of giving direct orders to launch the missile.

Investigators say the strike was carried out using an Iskander missile system armed with a 9M727 ground-launched cruise missile. The missile has a range of up to 500 kilometers, an accuracy of between one and five meters, and carries a high-explosive warhead weighing about 450 kilograms.

The missile was launched on March 29, 2022, at approximately 08:14 a.m. Kyiv time from occupied territory about 10 kilometers north of Dzhankoi in Crimea.

The target was the nine-story Mykolaiv Regional State Administration building in the historic center of Mykolaiv. The building housed regional government offices, the Mykolaiv Regional Local Roads Agency, the Mykolaiv Commercial Court, a representative office of the National Council of Ukraine on Television and Radio Broadcasting, municipal services and a private cafeteria.

According to investigators, 113 civilians were inside the building at the time of the attack.

The strike destroyed most of the building's left wing from the first through the ninth floor, as well as the central section containing the stairwell.

Twenty-one civilians were killed and another 27 were injured.

Fifteen Ukrainian servicemen assigned to guard the building were also killed, while six others were wounded. Five police officers sustained injuries as well.

The blast wave damaged 10 nearby civilian facilities, including the Palace of Student Creativity, the State Archives, a post office and residential buildings.

Charges

Zusko and Horaychuk have been charged under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine with violating the laws and customs of war in conjunction with intentional homicide.

According to investigators, the commanders were aware of both the destructive power of the missile and the civilian nature of the target, yet failed to take any measures to protect civilians.

The presence of Ukrainian servicemen guarding the building did not provide the russian military with a concrete military advantage sufficient to justify the attack.

As a result, investigators consider the strike indiscriminate and disproportionate, causing excessive civilian casualties in violation of the Geneva Conventions. The attack is therefore being treated as a war crime combined with intentional homicide.

The criminal proceedings were registered in the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations under No. 22022150000000082 on March 29, 2022.