Atrocities carried out by Russian forces in Ukraine were not the work of rogue soldiers but organised brutality under the watch of one of Vladimir Putin’s top generals, an investigation has found.
Troops crossing the border from Belarus on February 24 were ordered to block and destroy ‘nationalist resistance’ as they fought their way to Kyiv, according to the Royal United Services Institute, a London think tank that has reviewed copies of Russia’s battle plans.
Soldiers used lists compiled by the intelligence services and conducted ‘zachistka’ – cleansing operations – sweeping neighbourhoods to identify and neutralise anyone who might pose a threat.
Overseeing this phase of the invasion was Colonel General Alexander Chaiko, who earned a global reputation for brutality as leader of Russia’s forces in Syria.
While there is nothing necessarily illegal about the order, it was often implemented with flagrant disregard for the laws of war as Russian troops seized territories across Ukraine.