Russian soldier who confessed to murdering a Ukrainian civilian is being investigated for ‘fakes’ about the Russian army
A Khabarovsk military court is hearing a case against service member Daniil Frolkin. He’s been charged with spreading known falsehoods, created by a group of people with selfish motives, about the Russian army. Human rights media project OVD-Info called attention to the case.
Online news outlet Vazhnye Istorii (iStories) reports that the full name of the person involved in the case is exactly the same as that of a Russian soldier who confessed to the publication, in the summer of 2022, that he had murdered a civilian resident of Ukraine in the village of Andriivka, in the Kyiv region of Ukraine.
Frolkin then told Vazhnye Istorii that the Ukrainian man he killed had been passing the coordinates of Russian columns moving through the Kyiv region to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and that a commander had ordered the man killed. Frolkin criticized that commander, and a number of others, and promised to quit the army.
By the time Vazhnye Istorii published the material containing Frolkin’s confession, he had in fact left the armed forces. The publication tried to get Frolkin’s comments on the criminal case, but he didn’t respond to calls or messages. It’s unclear whether the case is related to Frolkin’s earlier comments to Vazhnye Istorii.
In Ukraine, Frolkin has been accused of violating the laws of war, a crime which carries the punishment of life in prison.
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