Following murder of teenagers in Berdiansk, Russian forces increase pressure on minors in Zaporizhzhia region

Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov reported the information.

"Following the murder of 2 teenagers for their pro-Ukrainian stance in Berdiansk, the occupiers are frantically terrorizing minors," Fedorov said.

He noted that in occupied Melitopol, Russian forces check teenagers' phones for following Ukrainian media and official channels. They also summon parents to the commandant's office and threaten them with reprisals.

Entire families are being deported due to their pro-Ukrainian stance. While previously they were sent on foot to Zaporizhzhia, which offered a place of refuge, they are now being taken to Russia.

"The occupiers are also searching for pro-Ukrainian adults. The other day, Melitopol residents witnessed another crackdown on a patriot - for saying "Glory to Ukraine!" Russian soldiers dragged him down the street and beat him with a rifle butt," noted Fedorov.

Murder of teenagers in Berdiansk 

On June 24, Russia-backed head of the Zaporizhzhia region, Volodymyr Rohov, said that 2 underage Ukrainian partisans were killed in Berdiansk because the teenagers "opened fire on the waterfront where civilians were located."

Rohov named Tyhran Ohannisian as one of the "culprits", while Olha Reshetylova, coordinator of the Media Initiative for Human Rights, said that the second guerrilla killed was Mykyta Khanhanov. Both teenagers were born in 2006.

The media published a video message in which Tyhran, with an assault rifle in his hands, says goodbye before his death. In the same video, he says that he killed or wounded at least 2 occupiers.

"This is death, guys, goodbye. Glory to Ukraine," he says.

Earlier, the Media Initiative for Human Rights reported that on the night of September 30, 2022, the Russian military abducted 16-year-old Tyhran Ohannisian, who lived with his grandmother in occupied Berdiansk. He was arrested, but released on October 5. Following his release, Tyhran said that during his arrest he was subjected to electric shocks, interrogations and a mock execution.

On the same day, September 30, 2022, the occupation police came to the house of 16-year-old Mykyta Khanhanov, Tyhran's classmate, to search it. The family was not at home that day, so the occupiers returned 2 weeks later and arrested Mykyta and his father. They were interrogated at the police station but released.

Since then, the occupiers have regularly interrogated Tyhran and Mykyta and searched their homes. The children were obliged to report to the police station every day.

Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets responded to the murder of the 2 teenagers. He noted that Russia must be punished, as the killers must be convicted.

On June 29, in Berdiansk, the funeral of Mykyta Khanhanov and Tyhran Ohannisian will be held.

The funeral will be held in the Church of St. Nicholas at Melitopol Highway 56. At 11:00 am, Mykyta’s funeral will take place, and at 12:00 am - Tyhran's.

You can read more about the story of Tyhran and Mykyta here.