Russian commander convicted of torturing civilian in Sumy region

The Trostyanets District Court of the Sumy Region sentenced a Russian soldier who, during the occupation of the village of Boromlya, simulated the execution of a civilian woman – the mother of a Ukrainian soldier.

This is reported by the “Book of Executioners” project.

This is Mikhail Bakhmanov, a native of Donetsk who voluntarily joined the Russian army. During the occupation, he introduced himself to locals by the call sign Medved and called himself the village commandant.

According to the investigation, on March 19, 2022, Bakhmanov, together with a group of Russian military personnel, came to the house of a local resident. They were looking for her son, an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and an ATO veteran.

The occupiers threatened to kill the entire family and blow up the house. During the search, they shot at a well, suspecting that a soldier might be hiding there.

When the woman could not say where her son was, the Russian military threatened to take her minor grandson away. They then took the woman outside the village.

Near the pond, she was forced to walk to a hole at gunpoint, then kneel down. After that, three shots rang out. The woman perceived them as a real execution.

The victim, her grandson, and several local residents recognized Bakhmanov from photographs. An examination confirmed that the shell casings found at the scene were live ammunition for a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

The court found the Russian soldier guilty of cruel treatment of civilians and violations of the laws and customs of war. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison.