Ukrainian prosecutors cooperating with ex-GRU officer who is ready to testify in The Hague

Ukrainian prosecutors cooperated with the ex-major of the GRU of the Russian Federation Igor Salikov, Yuriy Belousov, the head of the Department of Combating Crimes in the Conditions of Armed Conflict of the Prosecutor General's Office, said on Radio Liberty.

Yesterday, the Russian officer wrote to The Hague with the readiness to testify regarding war crimes in Ukraine.

"Yes, I confirm the fact that the Office of the Prosecutor General has been working for more than half a year on this person who has provided us with testimony about the actions of Russia, starting in 2013, in preparation for an open invasion, the specifics of the open invasion," Belousov said, adding that his department has been cooperating with the Russian officer for more than half a year.

Salikov also reportedly gave "important testimony, some of which has already been confirmed, related to the invasion from February 24, 2022."

Yesterday, Russian human rights defender and author of the Gulagu.net project Volodymyr Osechkin published Salikov's letter. In it, he appeals to the International Criminal Court in The Hague with the readiness to testify about Russia's war crimes in Ukraine.

In particular, he stated that he is ready to testify against:

→ the ideologue of the "Novorossiya" project , Vladislav Surkov;

→ member of the illegitimate Russian State Duma and leader of the occupied Donbas militants Aleksandr Borodai;

→ the commander of the 10th Separate Special Purpose Brigade (military unit 51532), Major General Sergey Svida (call sign "Ryazan", handler of Redut and Wagner PMCs);

→ Wagner Group and high-ranking employees of the FSB and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, who are directly involved in war crimes in Ukraine in 2014-2015 and in 2022.

Salikov is one of the founders of the Russian organization that started the so-called PMC Redut, according to the investigation of Radio Liberty's project Skhemy. 

Redut fighters fought in Syria on the side of Bashar al-Assad's regime. Subsequently, the PMC was transformed, came under the leadership of the GRU and recruited fighters to the various branches of Redut, which are now participating in the war against Ukraine.