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September 19, 2025 – Russia –
In a groundbreaking investigation, Ukrainian journalists from Suspilne have identified the commander of the Russian regiment responsible for one of the most harrowing war crimes committed during the full-scale invasion: the imprisonment of 369 residents of Yahidne, including 69 children, in a school basement for nearly a month in March 2022. The Russian army used the civilians as human shields, turning the school’s upper floors into their headquarters to deter Ukrainian shelling. Ten people died from suffocation, starvation, or untreated illness, while survivors continue to suffer long-term health effects.
The Yahidne atrocity became emblematic of Russia’s brutality, with survivors recalling horrific conditions in the cramped, unventilated basement. Families endured nights beside the bodies of loved ones who had died, only permitted to remove them the following morning. Among the Russian officers overseeing the ordeal were two men known by their call signs: “Maple” (Клён) and “Spider” (Паук). Survivors recounted their cruelty—when a grandmother pleaded for fresh air for her suffocating infant, “Maple” reportedly replied, “Let it suffocate.” To a cancer patient begging to go home, he coldly advised, “Hang yourself.”
Suspilne’s investigation, which began with the 2022 Survivor’s Diary report, first identified “Maple” as Semyon Aleksandrovich Solovov, born in 1987. In July 2025, a Chernihiv court sentenced him in absentia to 12 years in prison for war crimes. Solovov, however, remains at large. The more elusive figure was “Spider,” the regiment commander. Recently, journalists confirmed his identity as Aleksei Aleksandrovich Zhukov, born in 1984, a decorated officer promoted to lieutenant colonel and recipient of multiple Russian state honors from Vladimir Putin, including medals for “courage” and “bravery.”
Zhukov had previously fought in Syria and was wounded in Kherson in 2022. Survivors note that while he appeared less overtly sadistic than Solovov, he was fully aware of the conditions civilians endured under his orders. His command authority and the obedience shown to him by subordinates make him directly responsible for the unlawful use of civilians as human shields, a clear war crime under international law.
Although prosecution remains difficult without custody of the accused, the exposure of Zhukov’s identity represents a crucial step. As retired U.S. General Ben Hodges stressed, publicly naming perpetrators and preserving evidence ensures that accountability remains possible, however delayed.
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