- Two Russian soldiers are being investigated for murdering a Ukrainian family.
- Reports say that they had a dispute over the soldiers demanding moonshine liquor.
- Throughout the conflict there have been multiple reports of Russian soldiers heavily consuming alcohol.
Two Russian soldiers are being investigated for killing a Ukrainian family, possibly in revenge for not giving them moonshine, according to reports.
Russian authorities detained two servicemen under suspicion of murdering nine people, including two children, in occupied Donetsk, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Telegram.
The family was found dead in a private residential building with gunshot wounds, and the motive was believed to be a “domestic conflict,” according to the committee.
Further details about the crime began circulating on Russian Telegram channels, including images purportedly showing the bloody crime scene.
Important Stories, a Russian news outlet, reported that a friend of the family told them that one of the victims had an altercation with a Chechen soldier serving in the Russian Army on October 27.
They said that there were rumors that the soldier demanded they give him moonshine — illegally manufactured spirits — which the family refused, according to the family friend.
“They say that during the day, a Chechen came to see them and wanted to take some moonshine. Not to buy, but to take. He was refused, there was a loud scandal and threats,” the godmother of one of the deceased children told the outlet.
Later that night, the soldier and his friend returned and killed the family, per the report.
The family that was killed sympathized with Russia and supported their invasion of Ukraine, the source told Important Stories.
Astra, an independent Russian news outlet, said that the family included a child as young as four, and that they were killed as they slept.
Chechen fighters, under the leadership of Putin ally Ramzan Kadyrov, have been supporting the Russian fight in Ukraine.
Insider was unable to verify the reports independently. The Russian Investigative Committee said that the soldiers were under contract from the Far East of the country, while Chechnya is in Russia’s North Caucasus region.
A Russian insider source claimed that the two detainees were a part of the Russian 155th Separate Naval Infantry Brigade, according to the think tank the Institute for the Study of War.
Occupying powers killing civilians in areas far removed from active combat zones is a violation of multiple international legal norms, the think tank noted.
Throughout the conflict, there have been multiple reports of Russian soldiers heavily consuming alcohol and drugs.
Last months it was reported that Russian soldiers were getting hard drugs delivered to their trenches in Ukraine to escape boredom, according to the independent Russian news outlet Verstka.
