On September 6, 2016, InformNapalm published the article “The tankmen from the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade, who had fought in Ukraine, have been identified”, which revealed the identities of 10 tankmen from the 136th Motorized Rifle Brigade (unit 63354, Buinaksk, Dagestan) of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces, who were sent on a “Ukrainian business trip” in the autumn of 2014. The article pointed out that, though previously the main focus of OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) investigations was placed on the detection and identification of units, armaments, and the geography of events, it was now the time to address the gaps and reveal the identities of Russian war criminals. This new report will discuss the artillery troops of the same brigade, who had been involved in the shelling of Ukrainian villages and towns.

It should be noted that, just as in the case with the exposition of the tankmen of the 136th Brigade, InformNapalm was first resource which, in September 2014, had identified the Russian artillery units called up by the Russian military command to conduct the ignoble, unconventional war in the Donbas. Among them was named the 291th Artillery Brigade, which subsequently appeared in twelve of our investigations. We also reported about a unit of the ‘Akatsiya’ self-propelled 152mm howitzer battalion from Dagestan, which was supported by a series of photographs reflecting the everyday combat routine of a “Ukrainian business trip.”

This topic was covered in greater detail in the fall of 2015 by the Ukrainian blogger sled_vzayt, whose investigation had revealed the names of 6 criminal artillerymen. But the Internet still retains a huge amount of information in the form of complete photo albums and cynical comments, proving Russia’s involvement in the war in the Donbas.

Good examples are the profiles in social networks, at first glance of seemingly respectable family men and former soldiers of the 136th Brigade: Sergei Shekhovtsov’s with a bookmark “Ukraine August 2014“, and Yegor Winkler’s with a series of photos from the period of “Rostov/Ukraine business trip.” Among the many photos are the familiar images of the summer and fall of 2014, which had been previously published by OSINT investigators, but there are “fresh” ones too.

Subject #1

Basic data: Sergey Shekhovtsov , born on March 17, 1990, a native of the village Izmalkovo in Lipetsk Oblast. Social network profiles: Odnoklassniki (Profile. contacts) VKontakte (profile.album. contacts). Judging by the status on the profile page, now employed as a security guard by a private security company in Moscow. According to other information, he is working for the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Lipetsk Oblast (see the caption for the accident photo, the same photo as on his page). Served as a conscript in the Interior Forces of the Interior Ministry of Russia unit 3660. Subsequently he signed a contract with the Russian Defense Ministry to serve in the 136th Brigade.

Notably:

the photo, with comments , uploaded on December 2014, of Shekhovtsov with two comrades-in-arms, “advertising” an “Airport Luhansk” jersey.

Photos 1, 2, 3, uploaded on September 6, 2014, showing the routes of a convoy in Donbas, in the area of Novosvitlivka, in Luhansk Oblast of Ukraine.

Note: Videos and photos with the same geolocation tags can still be found on the page of Dmitry Kirillov, a participant in the “Donbass campaign” of the 136th Brigade. A Youtube copy of the video:

A series of group photos made in Donbas — 1, 2, 3 — of the Buynaksk artillerymen, uploaded on September 6, 2016.

Subject #2

Basic data: Yegor Vinkler. Presumably a native of Kazakhstan, he has a double Kazakh/Russian citizenship. He has a partner, one Yevgeniya Tokmakova. Social network presence: Kontakte (archives of profile, album, contacts 1. 2), Facebook. Served under a contract in the 136th Brigade, which contract was terminated prematurely (see comments).

Photo album of the “adventures” or artillerymen of the 136th Brigade: Dagestan – Rostov Oblast – Donbas.

Based on the results of this investigation, the list of Russian war criminals has been expanded by two more soldiers from the 136th Brigade. This is the eighth “secrecy blunder” the 136th Brigade in the context of “Ukrainian business trips”; see earlier publications of our volunteer community:

To be continued…

The article is a result of a personal OSINT investigation by Irakli Komaxidze

Translated by Victor Danilchenko

Edited by Max Alginin