Prosecutors, together with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), have identified and notified the commander of the 12th missile brigade of the 58th combined arms army of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation of suspicion.

This concerns a colonel of the Russian Federation who, on April 29, 2024, executing a combat order from the higher military-political leadership of the Russian Federation, gave the command to carry out a missile strike on Odesa. The target of the attack was one of the most popular recreational areas on the Black Sea coast – the "Health Route." The strike was carried out using the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system with a cluster munitions warhead. The launch took place from the area of the settlement of Novoselivske in the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

As a result of the attack, 8 civilians were killed, including a 4-year-old girl. Another 23 people sustained injuries of varying degrees of severity.

The strike destroyed and damaged a number of civilian facilities, including a rented building of one of the universities.

The military command of the Russian Federation was fully aware of the civilian nature of this territory, the absence of any military or strategic objects, and also understood that the use of cluster munitions in such a place would lead to numerous casualties among the civilian population.

The commander of the missile brigade of the Russian Armed Forces has been notified in absentia of suspicion of violating the laws and customs of war, combined with intentional murder committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy (Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Prosecutors of the Odesa Regional Prosecutor's Office, together with investigators from the SBU in the Odesa region, continue to gather evidence and identify all representatives of the military-political leadership of the Russian Federation and military personnel involved in this war crime, with the aim of holding those responsible accountable under Ukrainian and international law.