“Kommersant” became aware of the details of the criminal case against the commander of the naval forces of Ukraine (VMSU) Alexei Neizhpapa. According to the charge brought against the vice admiral in absentia, on his orders, Russian ships were attacked three times using drones and anti-ship missiles, including the Vasily Bekh rescue tug, which led to the death of 11 servicemen. The commander was arrested in absentia by a court to organize an international search for him, but, according to established practice, Interpol will not include him in the search database.
The Khamovnichesky District Court of Moscow, at the request of the Main Military Investigation Department (GVSU) of the TFR, arrested Aleksey Neizhpapa in absentia for two months from the moment of his actual detention or extradition from abroad. The search for the admiral is entrusted to the police.
The basis for the criminal prosecution of the admiral was Art. 12 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, according to which foreign citizens and stateless persons who do not permanently reside in Russia are liable under Russian law if the crime committed by them is directed against the interests of the Russian Federation or its citizens.
With the help of military counterintelligence of the FSB GVSU ICR established that Aleksey Neizhpapa is the organizer of at least three crimes under Art. 317 (encroachment on the life of a law enforcement officer or soldier) of the Criminal Code and Part 2 of Art. 167 (intentional destruction or damage to property by arson, explosion or other generally dangerous method, resulting in the death of a person or other grave consequences) of the Criminal Code.
According to investigators, in addition to Commander Neizhpapa, unidentified persons from among the heads of the intelligence and operational department of the Ukrainian Navy, the situation center, the 10th Naval Aviation Brigade and the 406th Separate Artillery Brigade were involved in the crimes.
On May 2, 2022, on the orders of the admiral, Ukrainian drones attacked two Russian BK-16 high-speed assault transport boats (full displacement – 19.5 tons) near Zmeiny Island in the Black Sea. On May 7, a Russian landing boat D-172 (105 tons) was also damaged by UAV actions there. Finally, at four in the morning on June 17, the rescue tug “Vasily Bekh” (1670 tons) was sunk by missiles fired from the shore in the neutral waters of the Black Sea.
As a result of the shelling, sanctioned by Admiral Neizhpapa, according to the materials of the criminal case submitted to the court, 11 servicemen were killed, and the Russian Navy suffered significant damage.
Previously, all three criminal cases were investigated by the Armed Forces of the ICR for the Black Sea Fleet, from where they were transferred to the central apparatus of the military investigation, where the investigations were combined into one proceeding. The admiral was placed in custody, albeit in absentia, because at large he would continue to commit crimes.
It should be noted that earlier, at the request of the FSB, the Lefortovo court arrested in absentia the head of the main intelligence department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov, accused of organizing terrorist attacks (Article 205 of the Criminal Code). According to investigators, it was he who could be behind the explosion of the trailer on the Crimean bridge.
At the same time, a full-fledged search for the accused with the participation of Interpol is virtually impossible.
The international police, according to Kommersant’s sources from the Prosecutor General’s Office, does not refuse Russia to accept documents on the accused, including on events related to the conflict in Ukraine, but does not execute them, usually without explaining the reason for this.
