Azatbek Omurbekov

Azatbek Asanbekovich Omurbekov (Russian: Азатбек Асанбекович Омурбеков) (born c. 1982) is a Russian colonel, who reportedly heads the 64th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade, a unit suspected of committing war crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha. He has been dubbed by media outlets "the butcher of Bucha".[1][2] In November 2021, he had received a blessing from the Russian Orthodox Church.[3][4]

Lieutenant colonel

Azatbek Omurbekov
Native name
Азатбек Асанбекович Омурбеков
Nickname(s)Butcher of Bucha
Allegiance Russia
RankColonel
Battles/wars

Omurbekov became well-known to the public after Ukrainian citizen journalism website InformNapalm doxxed the officer, exposing much of his personal information to the public. According to InformNapalm Omurbekov is a 40-year old lieutenant colonel who was leading the Russian troops during the Battle of Bucha.[5] The Independent said it was unable to confirm or verify the claims.[6]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Bucha on April 4, 2022. He then talked about war crimes allegedly committed by Russian troops. Troops under Omurbekov's command allegedly murdered unarmed civilians and raped women and children. After the Russian forces left the town, mass graves were discovered.[7] Zelensky then called for a Nuremberg-style tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russian war crimes.[8]

Since April 21, 2022, Omurbekov has been under British sanctions.[9][10]

Awards

In 2014, Omurbekov was awarded for outstanding service by Russian deputy defense minister Dmitry Bulgakov.

References
  1. Cole, Brendan. "Who Is Azatbek Omurbekov? Commander Believed To Be Behind Bucha Killings". Newsweek. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  2. "The "butcher of Bucha": who is the Russian lieutenant colonel Asanbekovich, accused of genocide in Ukraine". News Euro 24 English. 6 April 2022.
  3. "Qui est Azatbek Omurbekov, surnommé le boucher de Boutcha ?". www.rtl.fr (in French). Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  4. "'Butcher of Bucha' was blessed by the Orthodox Church before 'war crimes'". The Independent. 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  5. "Hunt for Russian commanders in charge of Bucha atrocities as colonel named". uk.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  6. "'Butcher of Bucha' was blessed by the Orthodox Church before 'war crimes'". The Independent. 2022-04-06. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  7. Grylls, George; Parker, Charlie. "Hunt for the 'Butcher of Bucha', a commander blessed by the Orthodox Church". The Times. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  8. Macias, Amanda. "Zelenskyy calls for a Nuremberg-style tribunal to investigate and prosecute Russian war crimes". CNBC. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  9. UK sanctions Russian generals it says have 'blood on their hands'
  10. New sanctions targeting Putin’s war leaders
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.