International special operation Avengers: Ukrainian and Moldovan police have detained three mercenaries of "Wagner" and other illegal armed groups fighting against Ukraine
The three arestees are citizens of Moldova. Since 2014 until 2023, they had been participating in the battle for the Donetsk airport, the capture of Bakhmut, the creation of the 'Debaltseve cauldron' as part of the PMC Wagner, the Somali battalion and other armed groups of the DPR and Russia. Some of whom have received awards and medals from the military leadership of the occupiers.
More than 200 police officers from the Main Investigation Department, the Strategic Investigation Department, and the Criminal Investigation Department of the National Police of Ukraine, as well as the officers of the National Investigation Inspectorate of the GPI in Moldova have been involved in neutralizing the mercenaries and have worked under procedural guidance of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine and the Prosecutor's Office for Combating Organized Crime and Particularly Important Cases of Moldova.
As a part of the first stage of the international police operation Avengers, law enforcement officers from both countries have conducted more than fifty searches at the places of residence and registration of the defendants. As a result, documents, computer equipment and mobile phones with correspondence, photos and videos have been seized, which contain information about recruitment, conditions of service in the PMC Wagner and the participation of the defendants in military operations on the territory of Ukraine.
Moldovan police investigators have informed the three detainees of suspicion of their participation in the mercenary of the armed conflict, military or other violent actions aimed at overthrowing or undermining the constitutional order or violating the territorial integrity of the state (Article 141 paragraph (1) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Moldova). The preventive measures are being chosen and defendants will face up to ten years imprisonment.
The coordinated actions of law enforcement officers have facilitated the assistance of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine and the coordination of the Europol project for the investigation of war crimes 'AP CIC', which have formed a special working group of project specialists and liaison officers from Ukraine and Moldova. In addition, a Virtual Command Post has been organized, which has accelerated exchange of information between the participants of the operation and the verification of data in Europol databases in real time.
These are only the first of 85 Moldovan citizens, who have been identified by the operational units of the Ukrainian police that have participated in the war on the russian side. Due to the hard work of the Criminal Analysis Department, the police have received information about the service records, family ties, contacts and defendants‘ locations.
Investigators of the National Police of Ukraine have opened a special magistrate criminal case and they are documenting all the facts of their recruitment, training, financing and the usage in military operations against Ukraine. With the assistance of the Department of International Police Cooperation of the National Police, their data has already been sent to the competent law enforcement agencies of Moldova, where a new series of pre-trial investigations have been launched against them.
Ukrainian police officers are doing their otmost to ensure that war criminals are unable to avoid justice in any civilized country in the world.
