Two servicemen of the 234th Air Assault Regiment of Russia's 76th Air Assault Division have been formally notified of suspicion in a crime against the civilian population committed in Bucha during the occupation of the town.

This was announced by the Prosecutor General's Office on 28 July; the case details are set out by Suspilne.

According to investigators, one of the suspects served as a deputy platoon commander and gun commander, the other as a senior driver-mechanic of an artillery platoon. The soldiers brought a 34-year-old woman to the yard of a private house on Vokzalna Street, where other occupying troops were stationed. There she was subjected to physical violence and raped in turn. When she tried to escape, one of the suspects shot her dead.

The charges were filed under part 1 of Article 438 of Ukraine's Criminal Code — cruel treatment of the civilian population combined with sexual violence.

One of the men had already been brought to trial over the woman's murder. Further investigative work established the circumstances of the sexual violence and identified the second participant, which is why the suspicion notice was updated and expanded.

Bucha was under occupation for 33 days — from 27 February to 31 March 2022. Vokzalna Street became one of the symbols of those events: it was there that the bodies of dozens of murdered civilians were found after Russian forces withdrew.