Russian soldier shoots dead family of 9 in Volnovakha

Petro Andriushchenko, the advisor to the mayor of Mariupol, reported the information.

"A Russian soldier shot 9 people right in their home. Including a girl - a 4th grade student," he wrote on Telegram.

Andriushchenko posted a photo of the girl's parents, who were also shot. 

Photo: Petro Andriushchenko / Telegram

According to the adviser, the family was shot because they allegedly refused to give their house to Kadyrov's forces. He added that the information was confirmed by partners in the information resistance movement in Volnovakha, which was occupied and destroyed by Russian occupying forces on March 11, 2022.

"This is the biggest and most high-profile crime of the occupiers after the occupation, which they are already trying to hide," Andriushchenko emphasized. 

Later, the Russian media outlet ASTRA also reported the murder of the family. According to local residents, neighbors and relatives of the victims, the shooting was carried out by a Russian soldier.

The so-called Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation for the "DPR" stated that the circumstances of the murder of 9 residents of Volnovakha, including 2 children, are being established. According to them, the bodies were found in a private house with gunshot wounds. 

As the neighbors and a distant relative of the victims told ASTRA, it all happened on Friday, October 27. The house was occupied by a husband and wife, Natalia and Andriy, and their children, a junior high school student, Nastya, and 4-year-old Mykyta.

Photo: ASTRA

It is not yet known what exactly happened before the murder. The criminal shot the whole family with children and 5 other people who were also in the house at the time.

"As the police told us, they were killed by soldiers on motorcycles, and everyone was lying in bed, so it was done while they were sleeping," a distant relative of the victims told the outlet, citing eyewitnesses.

A family friend emphasized that the murder was committed by a Russian soldier.

Photo: ASTRA

"He had some sort of a dispute with Natalia's husband. The higher-ups came immediately, and they started trying to hide everything, the neighbors were told to keep quiet. Their mother-in-law's birthday was on Friday, and at night everyone was killed. Yesterday, relatives started looking for them, called the police, opened the house, and they were all killed," eyewitnesses and family members added.

Another neighbor added that the perpetrators had flooded the house with water to hide the evidence of the murder. 

Donetsk journalist Denys Kazanskyi corroborated the information and shared details provided by local residents in regional Telegram channels. These details led to the identification of the family's name, which is Horkun.

"Nine people were shot. Among them were Natalia Horkun and her two small children. Her husband had a scandal with a Chechen. And when they were having a family gathering, he shot everyone in the house, including children under 10," a local resident said in a comment.

Response of the Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets

The Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights reacted to the brutal murder.

"There is no doubt that the bloody hands of Russians are involved. Just as traces of Russian torture were found in Bucha, Irpin, Izyum and other Ukrainian cities where the "liberators" were present. According to preliminary data, the occupiers took the lives of the entire Kapkanets family, who were celebrating their birthday and refused to give their home to the Chechen occupiers," he writes.

• Earlier, the commander of one of the units and a Russian army soldier who shot 3 brothers and buried their bodies in a pit during the occupation of the Chernihiv region were notified of suspicion in absentia.