Law enforcers have established that a Russian missile was launched at a cafe in the village of Hroza by two local brothers, reports the Prosecutor General's Office.
On 5 October, at about 13:25, the Russian military launched a missile attack on the village of Hroza, Kupyansk district. An Iskander-M missile hit a local cafe where a memorial dinner was being held. 53 civilians were killed and 6 others were injured.
Law enforcement officers identified the persons who leaded the Russian missile at the civilian object. They were two brothers, 23-year-old and 30-year-old residents of the village of Hroza, who fled to the territory of the Russian Federation before the de-occupation of Kharkiv Region.
Under the procedural supervision of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, the brothers were served a notice of suspicion.
Under the procedural supervision of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's Office, the 23-year-old and 30-year-old brothers were served a notice of suspicion of high treason (Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
One of them is also additionally charged with aiding and abetting the violation of the laws and customs of war, combined with premeditated murder (Part 5 of Article 27, Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine). Both brothers are former law enforcement officers who defected to the enemy in 2022 during the occupation of Shevchenkove, Kupiansk district. They became pseudo-police officers.
After the de-occupation of the region, they fled to Russia and continued to work for Russian curators. They passed them the necessary information. To do this, they maintained allegedly friendly relations with their fellow villagers and used various psychological methods to obtain the necessary information from them. Local residents did not realise that the brothers were actually conducting subversive activities against Ukraine under the guise of unobtrusive conversations.
The elder brother found out in detail from the villagers who would be at the memorial event, at what time it would be held and where exactly. He passed this information on to his Russian handlers, who, based on the information received, decided to fire on the civilian target.
He realised that the enemy attack would definitely result in the death of civilians - his acquaintances from the village of Hroza, including those who provided him with information.
The younger brother, while talking to his wife, informed her about his brother's involvement in the missile attack in the village of Hroza and asked her not to tell anyone about it. The man did not mention his involvement in this crime.