The United States has charged four Russian soldiers with torture and other war crimes in connection with the alleged abduction and interrogation of an American during the early stages of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in April 2022.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the indictment on December 6, saying the charges against the four "Russia-affiliated military personnel" are for "heinous crimes against an American citizen" and are the first to be brought under the U.S. war crimes statute.
The U.S. citizen, who was not identified, was abducted from his home in the village of Mylove in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine and held for at least 10 days, the Justice Department said in a news release.
Investigators from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the FBI interviewed the American, his family, and others who were around Mylove at the time of the abduction to identify the four Russians, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said.
"The evidence gathered by our agents speaks to the brutality, criminality, and depravity of Russia's invasion," Mayorkas said at a news conference in Washington.
The American and his wife, a Ukrainian citizen, were eventually evacuated.
According to the indictment, two of the soldiers charged -- Suren Mkrtchyan and Dmitry Budnik -- were commanding officers of military units of the “Russian Armed Forces and/or the so-called Donetsk People's Republic." The two others charged were lower-ranking military personnel, identified only as Valery and Nazar.
"During the abduction, Mkrtchyan, Valery, Nazar, and others allegedly threw the victim face down to the ground while he was naked, tied his hands behind his back, pointed a gun at his head, and severely beat him, including with the stocks of their guns," the Justice Department said.
The indictment also alleges that Mkrtchyan and Budnik led at least two interrogation sessions during which the four defendants and others tortured the victim.
During one interrogation, Mkrtchyan, Valery, and Nazar allegedly stripped the victim and photographed him. The defendants and others then allegedly severely beat the victim and pointed guns at the back of his head. Budnik allegedly threatened the victim with death and asked for his last words, which was followed by a mock execution.
U.S. Attorney Jessica Aber said in the news release that these were "grave breaches" of the Geneva Conventions.
The defendants, whose whereabouts are unknown, are charged with three war crimes -- unlawful confinement, torture, and inhuman treatment -- and one count of conspiracy to commit war crimes. If convicted, each faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Although U.S. officials described the case as history-making, the charges are largely symbolic, given the unlikely prospect of the Justice Department taking any of them into custody.