On March 3, the Khortytskyi District Court of Zaporizhzhia sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison a commander of a russian National Guard unit who personally tortured a local official during the occupation of the village of Mykhailivka in the Zaporizhzhia region.

What is known about the offender

German Tamerlanovich Kaloyev (born October 4, 1983) is a native of Omsk.

At the time of the crime, he was the commander of Military Unit No. 6918 of the russian National Guard (permanently based in Yevpatoria in temporarily occupied Crimea) and held the rank of lieutenant colonel.

After russian forces entered Mykhailivka, Kaloyev was appointed the "military commandant of Mykhailivka," effectively becoming the head of the occupation administration.

Circumstances of the crime

The victim worked as a specialist in internal and information policy at the Mykhailivka village council.

He was first detained on April 19, 2022 and pressured to cooperate, but was quickly released.

However, three days later, on April 22, a group of about 12 armed men arrived at the victim's apartment. Kaloyev was not wearing a mask but was dressed in a uniform with russian and Dagestan patches. The others were wearing balaclavas and helmets and carrying weapons. The victim's daughter, who was at home, was ordered to go to the kitchen.

Kaloyev personally took about 2,800 hryvnias from the victim’s pockets and seized his laptop. Then two subordinates put the man in a car — striking him several times on the neck with the palm of their hands on the way — and took him to a cell in the seized police station building at 2 Ivan Franka Street, where he was held until April 25.

Shortly after the man's arrest, Kaloyev entered his cell and began beating him without warning, using his fists, elbows and knees. The force of the blows threw the man against the wall and he lost consciousness. A medical examination later recorded that the victim had suffered a fracture of the 9th right rib as a result of the beating.

The next day, Kaloyev continued to torture the man, cutting off part of the fingertip of his right middle finger and knocking out three teeth during interrogation. During the beating, the victim fell and hit his head on a metal bench, causing a cut on his forehead.

After that, Kaloyev ordered his subordinates to place the victim in a "glass" — a narrow metal niche where a person can only stand upright without being able to change position. He was kept there for four hours.

On April 25, the victim was released. As the victim was leaving, Kaloyev told him he could go free, but ordered him to think about it, because he had a family to feed and "they know everything."

The next morning, the man and his daughter left for Zaporizhzhia.

The verdict

Kaloyev's guilt was confirmed by the testimony of the victim himself, his daughter (who was present during the detention and saw her father immediately after his release), the head of the Mykhailivka village council (who had been held captive for 18 days and personally knew Kaloyev as the commandant), and an ambulance paramedic who provided first aid to the victim on the day of his release. All four identified Kaloyev in the photographs.

After considering the evidence, the court found Kaloyev guilty of cruel treatment of civilians under Article 438(1) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. The sentence will be counted from the moment of his actual detention.