The Security Service of Ukraine, the Office of the Prosecutor General, and the National Police handed over a Russian serviceman to the Republic of Lithuania, who is suspected of war crimes, the SSU reported.
“According to case materials, the suspect tortured prisoners, including a Lithuanian volunteer who was helping Ukraine. The extradition was carried out based on a joint investigation by the SSU, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the National Police,” the SSU stated on its Telegram channel on Friday.
The detained occupier, Margen Hadzhimagomedov, is a citizen of the aggressor state and an inspector of the military police of the 177th Separate Marine Infantry Regiment of the Russian Caspian Flotilla. Case materials indicate he tortured prisoners held in a prison set up by the enemy at the occupied Melitopol airport in Zaporizhzhia.
Among the victims was a Lithuanian volunteer who had been assisting the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the first days of the full-scale war.
“The investigation found that prisoners were subjected to various forms of torture: locked in safes, choked until losing consciousness, suspended by tied hands, doused with cold water in freezing temperatures, and electrocuted,” the report said.
Ukrainian defenders captured the serviceman during fighting near Robotyne in August 2024.
According to investigators from the SSU and foreign partners, the Vilnius City Court recognized him as a suspect in violating the Geneva Conventions and the laws and customs of war under Articles 100 and 103 (part 1) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania.
At the request of the Lithuanian Prosecutor General, Ukraine carried out the extradition of the suspect at the end of October to bring him to justice.
“This is the first time since the start of the full-scale war that our country has extradited a detained Russian serviceman to another foreign state,” said SSU Deputy Head Brigadier General Serhiy Naumyuk.
Lithuania’s Deputy Prosecutor General Gintaras Ivanauskas thanked his Ukrainian colleagues for their significant contribution to the investigation.
“Under the Criminal Code of the Republic of Lithuania, war crimes against civilians and prisoners of war committed through torture and unlawful detention carry penalties of 10 to 20 years of imprisonment or life imprisonment. I want to thank our colleagues at the SSU for their substantial contribution to this investigation,” he said.
