The occupation authorities in Berdiansk claim that on June 24 they killed two teenagers "for anti-Russian activities"
This was reported by the head of the temporary occupation administration of the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region, Vladimir Rogov.
According to him, one of the boys is 16-year-old Ukrainian Tigran Ohannisian. Earlier, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation accused the boy of allegedly preparing a sabotage at the railway.
In September, security forces kidnapped Tigran Ohannisian and "interrogated" him for five days, subjecting him to beatings and electric shocks. He was demanded to confess to preparing a sabotage at the Melitopol Railway. His family knew nothing about the child's whereabouts.
Ohannisian lives with his grandmother. When his parents tried to return for him from Germany and take him out of the temporarily occupied territory, the family was arrested in Taganrog, Russia. The fate of his parents is unknown.
Along with Tigran Ohannisian, the Russians also accused 16-year-old Nikita Khanganov of allegedly preparing a sabotage at the railway. However, the head of the temporary occupation administration does not mention Khanganov's name.
Before the Rogov's message, the latest video of Ohannisian was circulated online with the words: "This is death, guys. Glory to Ukraine".
As of 10:00 a.m. on June 25, the Human Rights Ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, had not commented on the situation.
The Media Initiative for Human Rights is trying to find out more about the situation.
Currently, the Media Initiative for Human Rights has reported that a few days ago, an investigator with an armed convoy came to pick up the boys, but they managed to escape. The day before the murder, the boys reported to the occupation police.
"Half an hour before the investigator called their parents to tell them that the boys had been killed, Tigran's mother talked to him. Tigran was calm, saying that they were walking with Nikita and thinking about how to celebrate Nikita's birthday. Nikita was to have turned 17 today," said Olha Reshetylova, coordinator of the MHRC.
Human rights activists see discrepancies in the story. In particular, the boys' parents have not yet seen the bodies, but are already being interrogated and searched. Tigran’s and Mykyta’s parents believe that the shootout and the video with his farewell words were staged to kill the boys.
In June 2023, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the criminal prosecution of teenagers. It called for the boys to be released from the temporarily occupied territories and for the International Committee of the Red Cross to facilitate the safe movement of schoolchildren.
Ukrainian investigative authorities opened a criminal investigation into the murder. The Media Initiative for Human Rights will also conduct its own investigation.
Svidomi cannot verify the information.
