First killed a fisherman, then five Ukrainian soldiers: investigators are examining the actions of a Russian serviceman

In the Kharkiv region, a 36-year-old Russian Armed Forces serviceman was detained. He is being investigated on suspicion of involvement in the murder of five Ukrainian servicemen and a civilian man. According to the Security Service of Ukraine, he was found and detained within 24 hours of the servicemen’s murder. The SBU and the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine reported this on October 14, 2026.

According to law enforcement officials, the detainee is a Russian citizen born in Saint Petersburg and a serviceman in the 2nd Battalion of the 1009th Motor Rifle Regiment of the Russian army. He had previously been convicted of a crime in the aggressor state. Investigators are looking into the possibility that he was part of a Russian sabotage and reconnaissance group. According to the prosecutor’s office, he changed into civilian clothes to avoid being identified.

According to preliminary findings, the armed Russian serviceman first made his way to the Tsyrkuny community in the Kharkiv region. Near a body of water, he came across a local resident who was fishing. Law enforcement officials believe the occupier may have feared that the civilian would expose him and therefore killed him. An examination of the body revealed a through-and-through gunshot wound to the head. The following day, October 13, the man reached the village of Momotove in Kharkiv district, entered a private home where Ukrainian servicemen were temporarily staying, and opened fire on them.

The shooting killed five servicemen from the 72nd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After the attack, the gunman left the house, got rid of his automatic weapon, and continued through a tree belt toward Kharkiv. On October 14, officers from the SBU, the National Police, and the National Guard of Ukraine detained him in Kharkiv. According to the SBU, he was apprehended “hot on the trail”—within a day of the murder of the Ukrainian servicemen.

Urgent investigative actions are underway to establish all the circumstances of the crimes. Further pre-trial investigation will be conducted by investigators from the Security Service of Ukraine. According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, authorities are considering whether to enter the information into the Unified Register of Pre-Trial Investigations under Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine—violations of the laws and customs of war involving intentional murder—and whether to formally notify the detainee that he is a suspect. Procedural guidance will be provided by prosecutors from the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office.

Law enforcement authorities have released information about the circumstances of the murders as part of the investigation. The final legal assessment of the detainee’s actions will be made by investigators and the court.

We previously reported:

• Five lives cut short in an instant: what is known about the execution of Ukrainian servicemen
• Occupiers execute four captured Ukrainian soldiers in the Kharkiv region: prosecutors open a case
• Russian serviceman implicated in the execution of unarmed Ukrainian soldiers to stand trial
• Poison in drinks and a 10-kilogram bomb: FSB agents planned a mass killing of servicemen
• Two minors recruited by Russia poison a National Guard serviceman for $5,000