Russian Investigative Committee Launches Criminal Proceedings Against Ukrainian Commander
The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against Rostislav Karpusha, the commander of the 19th Rocket Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, according to an official statement.
According to the committee’s investigation, the colonel allegedly ordered his subordinates to launch a rocket attack on a school building in Sudscha, in the Kursk region, on February 1. The Russian Defense Ministry had previously announced that Ukrainian rockets, detected by air defense systems in the Sumy region, had targeted the building.
The school building, which housed civilians, was hit, resulting in fatalities and injuries, the committee reported, without providing a specific number of casualties.
The case was launched under Article 205, Part 3 of the Russian Criminal Code, which pertains to a terrorist act that results in the death of a person and carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
As of February 2, Alexander Chinstein, the deputy governor of the Kursk region, stated that there were no reliable reports on the number of victims at the time.
Sudscha has been under Ukrainian control since August 2024. In the previous autumn, the former head of the Sudscha district reported that Ukrainian fighters held civilians captive in the school, who had not been evacuated after the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ entry into the Kursk region.
The 19th Separate Rocket Brigade of Ukraine was previously commanded by Colonel Fyodor Yaroshevich, who, according to the Russian Investigative Committee, gave the order to attack Belgorod, resulting in civilian casualties and damage worth over 1.3 billion rubles.