Former Russian soldier Nikita Chibrin claims he vividly recalls the March deployment to the northwestern outskirts of Kyiv, when his fellow Russian soldiers raped two Ukrainian women and fled the scene.
“I saw them run, then I learned they were rapists. They raped a mother and a daughter,” he added. Their commanders, Chibrin said, shrugged when finding out about the rapes. The alleged rapists were beaten, he alleges, but never adequately punished for their crimes.
“They were never jailed. Just fired. Just like that: ‘Go!’ They were simply dismissed from the war. That’s it.”
Chibrin is a former soldier from the Russian city of Yakutsk who says he participated in the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, the notorious Russian military force suspected of perpetrating war crimes during their offensive in Bucha, Borodianka and other towns and villages north of Kyiv.
He escaped from the Russian military in September and fled to Europe via Belarus and Kazakhstan.
He further claimed that the unit’s leaders were aware of the alleged rapes and murders, as well as the looting, but did nothing to bring those responsible to justice.
“They reacted like: ‘Whatever. It happened. So what?’ Actually, there was no reaction,” he said. “Discipline goes [down the drain], there’s no discipline.”
Troops from Chibrin’s brigade were tagged war criminals by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense in April after mass graves containing killed people and dead bodies lying in the streets were discovered following the withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kyiv region.
Chibrin’s military documents, acquired by CNN, show his commander was Azatbek Omurbekov, the officer in charge of the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade.
Sanctions have been placed on Omurbekov, also known as the “Butcher of Bucha,” by the European Union and the United Kingdom. The entire brigade has been approved by the United States.
The Kremlin has repeated unfounded assertions that the photos of dead civilians were staged and denied any role in the massacres.
Russian President Vladimir Putin lauded the unit’s “heroism” and “bold actions” by bestowing an honorary military title on it, drawing widespread international condemnation.
Chibrin claimed he witnessed numerous illegal acts but none of the lauded bravery.
He told CNN he would be willing to testify against his unit at an international criminal court and described some of the crimes he claims to have witnessed and heard stories of in a European country where he has sought sanctuary. He insists he did not break the law himself.
“I didn’t see murders, but I did see rapists running away, being chased (by higher-ranking members of the unit) because they committed rape,” he claimed.
Additionally, he said that the unit had a “direct instruction to murder” any military or civilian personnel who revealed the whereabouts of the unit.
“If someone had a phone – we were allowed to shoot them,” he explained. He alleges that members of the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade could have killed defenseless bystanders with ease.
He alleges that members of the 64th Separate Guards Motor Rifle Brigade could have killed defenseless bystanders with ease.
“There are maniacs who enjoy killing a man. Such maniacs turned up there,” he exclaimed.
CNN has reached out to the Russian Ministry of Defense for comment on the claims, but has not yet heard back. Chibrin is certain that Russia will be defeated in its battle with Ukraine, but only after a tremendous loss of life.
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