The Security Service of Ukraine has formally charged the former commander of the Russian Southern Military District, Aleksandr Dvornikov, in absentia for his involvement in the missile strike on the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration building on March 29, 2022. Dvornikov later led the entire Russian invasion of Ukraine. The relevant document was published by the Office of the Prosecutor General.
According to the investigation, he issued an operational directive to the command of the 58th Combined Arms Army to carry out the shelling of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration. The command of this army then issued a combat order to the Russian 12th Missile Brigade.
On March 29, 2022, the brigade launched a missile strike at the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration building using a 9M727 cruise missile (Iskander-K) from the village of Konurcha in Crimea.
The missile hit between the 4th and 5th floors in the center of the building. Thirty-six people were killed, and 38 others were injured, including civilians, military personnel supporting the work of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration head, and police officers guarding the building.
As claimed by the Ukrainian security services, Dvornikov and other Russian military leaders did not take into account the protection of civilians, as mandated by the Geneva Conventions, when carrying out the missile strike.
Dvornikov is suspected of violating the laws and customs of war related to intentional murder committed by a group of individuals in conspiracy.
In 2019, Aleksandr Dvornikov was considered one of the individuals involved in the occupation of parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
On April 9, 2022, he was appointed as the commander of the Russian invasion forces in Ukraine. The United States expected him to bring greater brutality and savagery to the conflict, given Dvornikov's experience in the Syrian war.
By the summer of 2022, the NYT, Conflict Intelligence Team, and British intelligence reported, with varying degrees of certainty, that Dvornikov had been removed from his position as commander of the invasion forces.
