Death of Azov Regiment soldier in Russian captivity: forensic expert reveals cause

Oleksandr Ishchenko, a member of the Azov Regiment who died in Russian captivity. Photo: Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets on Telegram

Following an autopsy, a forensic expert has determined that Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Ishchenko died in a pre-trial detention centre in the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don from “closed blunt force trauma to the chest due to contact with a blunt object”. Oleksandr, a driver in the Azov Regiment, was captured during the defence of Mariupol in 2022.

Source: Sviatoslav Palamar, Deputy Commander of the Azov Brigade

Quote: “The fact of another brutal murder of a Ukrainian prisoner of war has been confirmed. I am attaching this document with the consent of Ms Olena, the wife of the tortured Oleksandr Ishchenko, who enlisted in Azov on 27 February 2022.

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This is not merely another cynical breach of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War by the Russians. It is an affront to human honour and dignity, to international law, and to the principles and values we uphold at the front.”

Autopsy findings. Photo: Sviatoslav Palamar on Facebook

Details: The autopsy report released by Palamar reveals that Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Ishchenko died in Russian captivity in a pre-trial detention centre due to multiple rib fractures, shock, and a closed blunt chest injury from “contact with a blunt object”.

Cause of death certificate. Photo: Sviatoslav Palamar on Facebook

Background:

• On 31 July, Russian media reported that Ukrainian defender Oleksandr Ishchenko, who served as a driver in the Azov Regiment and was captured in Mariupol, had died in Russian custody at a pre-trial detention centre in Rostov-on-Don.
• Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said Ishchenko died nine days ago, according to his daughter. Lubinets said no one had formally informed the Ukrainian side of this. There has been no official report on what caused the Ukrainian citizen’s death.
• On 31 July, Petro Yatsenko, head of the press service for the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, told public broadcaster hromadske that the Coordination Headquarters was investigating the circumstances surrounding Ukrainian soldier Oleksandr Ishchenko’s death in Russian captivity

For reference:

Oleksandr Ishchenko was 55. He was born in Mariupol and had been a sailor. A few days before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Ishchenko had just returned home from a sea voyage. He joined the Azov Regiment and became a driver there. In May 2022, he was taken captive by Russia. Oleksandr and his brothers-in-arms were tried by the Russians on trumped-up charges, accused of terrorism and attempting to overthrow the government. They were held in a detention centre in the Russian Federation.

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