Ukraine charges Russian general in absentia for imprisoning villagers in school basement

Prefer on Google by Abbey Fenbert The basement of a school where Russian forces held civilians hostage from March 3 to March 30, 2022, in Yahidne village, Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine, on April 3, 2023. (Volodymyr Tarasov/Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images) The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on April 13 charged Russian General Denis Barilo in absentia for his role in the torture of civilians in Chernihiv Oblast in 2022. Occupying Russian troops forced 380 civilians in the village of Yahidne into a school basement, where they were imprisoned for 27 days with barely any food or water. Ten people died during the ordeal, while seven others were executed in the surrounding village. The confinement and torture of civilians in Yahidne — including nearly 80 children, the youngest only six weeks old — occurred under the leadership of General Barilo, the SBU reported on April 13. Barilo commanded Russia's 55th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, part of the the 41st Combined Arms Army of the Central Military District. This unit participated in the occupation of Yahidne in March 2022, during the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion . Under Barilo's command, Russian troops forced the villagers at gunpoint into the basement, using them as a human shield for their base in the school's upper floors. The captured civilians were held in unsanitary conditions without access to medical care, ventilation, lighting, proper sewage, or medical supplies. Space was limited to less than half a square meter per person. In collaboration with the Chernihiv Oblast regional prosecutor's office, the SBU has gathered evidence against Barilo and charged him in absentia under Part 1, Article 438 of Ukraine's Criminal Code: violation of the laws and customs of war. "Comprehensive measures are ongoing to find and punish him," the SBU said. Previously, the Chernihiv District Court in March 2024 sentenced 15 Russian soldiers in absentia for war crimes against the people of Yahidne. Ukrainian troops liberated Yahidne at the end of March 2022, releasing the villagers trapped in the basement. Four years later, the basement has ben transformed into memorial site where visitors can witness the evidence of Russian war crimes . Barilo joins a growing list of senior Russian officials charged in absentia with war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the administration of occupied territories. In November 2025, the SBU filed in absentia charges against four Russians who they say were responsible for a devastating missile strike on a playground in Kryvyi Rih in April that killed 20 people, including nine children.