The Kherson City Court in absentia found two Russian servicemen guilty of violating the laws and customs of war. The case concerns Serhii Suslov and Serhii Vayda, who served in the 10th Separate Special Forces Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces and robbed a house in Bilozerka.
This is reported by the Judicial Reporter.
Thus, in April 2022 during the occupation of Bilozerka a group of Russian soldiers unlawfully moved into the private house of a local entrepreneur. The owner was not at home, but workers who lived on an adjacent plot saw that the Russians were using the property and living in the house.
At the beginning of June two servicemen began removing items, loading them into a BTR and taking them away in an unknown direction.
After the settlement was liberated in December 2022 the owner, together with the police, inspected the house and discovered significant damage and missing property worth 228,000 hryvnias.
Witnesses said that personal belongings of Russian servicemen remained in the house. Later, photos of five occupiers inside the house were found online.
The entrepreneur and the workers recognized Suslov and Vayda in the photos.
Investigators also found pages of these servicemen on the social network “Odnoklassniki”.
The court considered the case without the presence of the accused, who are being sought.
Despite their lawyers’ requests for acquittal, the court sentenced each to 12 years of imprisonment and ordered them to jointly compensate for the damages caused.
According to media reports, Serhii Vayda was a priest of the Russian Orthodox Church in Adygea, had 11 children, and voluntarily went to war. In May 2025 he was reportedly killed by a Ukrainian drone. Previously, parishioners had complained about him to the diocesan leadership because of conflicts and violations during services.