US Says Russians Tortured American in First War Crimes Case

US prosecutors on Wednesday accused four Russia-affiliated military personnel of detaining and torturing an American citizen in Ukraine, the first charges ever filed under a US war crimes statute passed nearly 30 years ago.

The Justice Department alleged that the four abducted the US citizen in April 2022 from the village of Mylove in southern Ukraine, roughly two months after President Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded the country.

The charges, filed in the Eastern District of Virginia, include three war crimes – unlawful confinement, torture and inhuman treatment – and one count of conspiracy to commit war crimes.

The defendants ...