- 14 May, 2025
- Foreign Policy
On May 9, 2024, a military parade dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the victory in World War II was held in Moscow, which was attended by leaders of a small number of countries, including Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
The parade was also attended by the presidents of the post-Soviet countries Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, as well as Russia’s strategic partners, President of China Xi Jinping and President of Brazil Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Russian sources have recorded the presence of military servicemen accused of war crimes in Ukraine or superiors of units that committed such crimes. The latter were mainly sitting in the vicinity of Russian President Vladimir Putin during the parade.
The Union of Informed Citizens NGO has compiled a list of the individuals who participated in the parade based on open source data.
The commander of “Pyatnashka” accused of torture sitting behind Putin
Thus, the Russian opposition TV channel Dozhd (TV Rain) noticed that Akhra Avidzba, the commander of the multinational Pyatnashka group (Donetsk 15th Brigade), an Abkhazian by nationality, was sitting behind Putin at the parade.
Akhra Avidzba sitting behind Putin. Source Facebook page of TV Rain.
Avidzba has been participating in military operations in Donbas since 2014, and it was then that he created his “Pyatnashka” group. Avidzba holds the title of “Hero” of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
Criminal cases have been initiated against Avidzba at different times on various charges. For example, in 2021, he was arrested in Abkhazia on charges of illegal possession of weapons. The court sentenced him to several years of suspended prison sentence and a fine.
In the same year, Ukrainian law enforcement agencies declared him wanted on charges of establishing and leading an illegal military group on the territory of Ukraine. According to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, the latter tortured and abused captured Ukrainian soldiers, as well as terrorized the civilian population.
In 2024, a criminal case was also initiated against him in the Russian Federation on charges of disobeying orders and failing to report for service during wartime.
“Pyatnashka’s” “Arbat” and the attempted coup in Armenia
Arbat (Armenian Battalion “Arbat”) is a unit of the multinational group “Pyatnashka”, and is composed of ethnic Armenians. It was created during the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022. Its founder was Armen Sargsyan, a Russian-Armenian, nicknamed “Armen of Gorlovsky.” The latter was wanted by Ukraine before his death in an attack on a Moscow apartment complex in February 2025.
The blessing of “Arbat” by Archbishop Ezras. Sargsyan is 2nd from the left.
He was accused of participating in the formation of illegal armed groups in Ukraine and aiding the aggressor state, as well as organizing murders in the center of Kiev.
It is noteworthy that as a result of operational and intelligence activities, in September 2024, the National Security Service of Armenia (NSS) revealed an attempt to prepare to usurp power in Armenia. According to information, members of the criminal group had deployed recruited people to prepare for the coup right at the military base of the “Arbat” battalion.
In fact, sitting a few rows away from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was the commander of the Russian army brigade that was training a group to carry out a coup in Armenia.
War criminals and their superiors were guests of honor at the parade
Soldiers accused of war crimes in Ukraine but awarded the title of “Hero” by Russia took honorable places on various platforms of the parade.
In particular, TV Rain identified Senior Lieutenant Vladislav Golovin, known by the nickname “Struna,” as the commander of one of the battalions that attacked Mariupol in 2022. That attack was accompanied by numerous casualties among civilians.
The “Agentsvo” agency, which also studied the list of problematic guests at the parade, recorded Major Arthur Orlov, who was the commander of a tank battalion. According to Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, the soldiers under his command gang-raped a pregnant Ukrainian woman.
Rail Gabdrakhmanov fought in Ukraine in a motor brigade. He was awarded the title of “Hero of Russia” for participating in the raising the level of the Seversky Donets River, during which his company killed 20 Ukrainian soldiers.
Source: Website of the “Agentstvo” agency. From left to right: Golovin, Orlov, Gabdrakhmanov
Chalima Chuldum-ul, who holds the title of Hero, served in the motor brigade that, according to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Irina Venediktova, was in the village of Yagodnoye, Chernihiv region, in March 2022.
There, Russian soldiers had taken more than 350 civilians hostage in the basement of a rural school.
Locals later told The New York Times that they were held for 28 days in conditions reminiscent of a concentration camp and were released from the basement on March 31, after the Russians had already left the village. The newspaper’s sources reported that 10 hostages had died during that time.
Another soldier with the title of Hero, Major Boris Dudko, was the deputy commander of one of the tank units. According to Reuters, this unit most likely participated in the Bucha massacre in 2022.
From March 5 to March 30, 2022, Russian troops occupied the city of Bucha near Kiev. After the city was liberated by Ukrainian troops, extensive evidence of mass killings and torture was found. According to international organizations, at least 458 civilians were killed in Bucha, including 9 children. Many victims were found in the streets with their hands tied, their eyes blindfolded, and shot in the heads. Besides, mass graves, tortured and burned bodies were found.
According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, officers from the same unit in which Dudko also served are suspected of carrying out the massacre.
Source: Website of the “Agentstvo” agency: from left to right: Chuldum-ul, Dudko.
Note that on March 17, 2023, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes, including the illegal transfer of hundreds of children from the territory of Ukraine.
Nane Manasyan
Union of Informed Citizens NGO
