Russian investigators claim Ukrainian troops killed nine civilians while occupying small town
Russian federal investigators have accused Ukrainian soldiers of executing nine civilians during their occupation of Makhnovka, a small town outside Sudzha, which an incursion force held from August 2024 until earlier this year. According to Russian officials, Ukrainian troops “no later than March 2025 deliberately shelled residential homes in the town of Makhnovka.”
“During an inspection of the residential buildings, damage was documented that indicates the use of artillery by Ukrainian armed formations. In addition, gunshot wounds were found on six of the bodies. It has already been established that one of the victims was an elderly woman who had been shot in the head,” Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee said in a statement on Thursday.
Ukrainian forces crossed into the Kursk region in August 2024, seizing dozens of settlements. Russian troops managed to repel most Ukrainian occupation forces by March 2025. The outlet 7x7 has identified and confirmed the deaths of at least 30 civilians in the Kursk region since the Ukrainian offensive began. In October 2024, Ukrainian military officials told The New York Times that they had committed “no recorded cases of violations” of the Geneva Conventions in Kursk.
