“They put a bag over his head and drove him away.” How the Russians abducted an ex-police officer, Oleksiy Kyrychenko, from the Zaporizhzhia region, and what he is being ‘tried’ for

Mykhailivka is a town near Zaporizhzhia. The Russians occupied it in the first days of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. As in other captured settlements, they began to illegally search homes and abduct civilians: some were later returned home, while others have still remained hostages of the Russians.

Oleksiy Kyrychenko is among those abducted. Before the full-scale war, he worked as a police officer in Mykhailivka. When the town was occupied, he refused to collaborate with the Russians. Later, he was also fired from the Ukrainian law enforcement body.

The murder of the Gauleiter of Mykhailivka

On August 23, 2023, the occupiers came to Oleksiy’s home, searched the house, took his Ukrainian passport, and abducted him.

“They took him out in what he was wearing, throwing a bag over his head. Then they drove away,” Liudmyla Kyrychenko, Oleksiy’s sister, recounts the eyewitnesses’ words.

Later, the Russians returned to the house, but this time without him. They took a flash drive and a phone box. For several months, Kyrychenko’s relatives knew nothing about his fate.

In December, the mother of another civilian hostage revealed that Oleksiy was to be illegally tried for the alleged murder of the self-proclaimed head of Mykhailivka, Ivan Sushko. Before the full-scale war, Sushko used to work as a toastmaster at weddings and New Year’s celebrations. Also, according to the ‘CHESNO’ movement, he ran for the Mykhailivka town council from the ‘Opposition Bloc’ and OPFL [‘Opposition Platform – For Life’] but was not elected.

Ivan Sushko, the self-proclaimed head of Mykhailivka, was blown up on August 24, 2022. Photo: social media

On August 24, 2022, Sushko’s car was blown up, killing him; in December 2023, the Russians ‘tried’ Oleksiy Kyrychenko and four other civilian hostages from Mykhailivka for the same crime. The accusations were formulated as ‘committing a terrorist act by prior conspiracy.’ Liudmyla Kyrychenko emphasizes that her brother had never communicated closely with other ‘defendants in the proceedings.’

On the day of the so-called court hearing, Oleksiy managed to see and talk to his father and aunt. His relatives noticed that he had lost a lot of weight. Also, there were bruises from the handcuffs on his wrists. He reported that the Russians ordered the prison guards to dress him and the other hostages from Mykhailivka up, as officials from Moscow were supposed to attend the ‘trial.’

From Pryazovske to Simferopol. Where the Russian Federation is holding Oleksiy Kyrychenko

Liudmyla Kyrychenko recounts that since December 1, 2023, the Russians might have held her brother in Pryazovske in the Zaporizhzhia region. Initially, the purported lawyer claimed that Oleksiy was being held in good conditions but did not specify the exact location. A few days later, he wrote that Kyrychenko was behaving strangely, deliberately fell off a bunk bed, and hit his head – that’s why they would take him to Crimea for psychiatric examination. From mid-December until March 19, the Russians illegally detained Oleksiy in Simferopol Detention Center No. 2 but then returned him to Pryazovske. Since January 2024, the Kyrychenko family has been sending Oleksiy parcels and letters. However, as Liudmyla explains, her brother does not receive all the letters from the family, as he has repeatedly asked the same questions.

Oleksiy Kyrychenko who was abducted in the Zaporizhzhia region. Photo: family archive

In January, Oleksiy Kyrychenko had another ‘trial’ conducted in Simferopol without a lawyer. At the hearing, his detention was once again extended. However, the Kyrychenko family is unaware of the details. They only know that the Russians lack direct evidence of Oleksiy’s involvement in Ivan Sushko’s murder. The occupiers are also planning to transport Kyrychenko to Rostov. As his father states, his son is in a terrible physical and emotional state.

Currently, the Kyrychenko family is searching for a competent lawyer for him. However, defense attorneys are reluctant to engage in the case due to its significant public attention and the article that the Russians have illegally charged the ‘accused’ with. Additionally, Oleksiy’s relatives are collaborating with Ukrainian and international law enforcement agencies and human rights organizations to secure his release as soon as possible.

Maryna Kulinich, MIHR journalist

This material is prepared with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.