WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Wednesday said it has filed war crime charges against four members of the Russian military accused of abducting and torturing an American during the invasion of Ukraine in a case that’s the first of its kind.
The case marks the first prosecution against Russians in connection with atrocities during their war against Ukraine and is the first war crimes case involving the victimization of an American, officials said.
“The Justice Department and the American people have a long memory,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in announcing the case. “We will not forget the atrocities in Ukraine. And we will never stop working to bring those responsible to justice.”
The four Russians are identified as members of the Russian armed forces or its proxy units. Two of them are described as senior officers. None of the four is in custody.
The Russians are accused of kidnapping the American from his home in a Ukrainian village in 2022. The American was beaten and interrogated while being held for 10 days at a Russian military compound, before eventually being evacuated with his wife, who is Ukrainian, U.S. authorities said.
The American told federal agents who had traveled to Ukraine last year as part of an investigation that the Russian soldiers had abducted him, stripped him naked, pointed a gun at his head and badly beaten him, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas…
