Russian Investigators Accuse Jewish Ukraine Oligarch of War Crimes

Igor Kolomoisky
Russian investigators accused Igor Kolomoisky, a Ukrainian Jewish billionaire and district governor, of murder and human rights violations.
The accusation came Wednesday in a statement by Vladimir Markin, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee of Russia, a federal body that investigates serious crimes.

Igor Kolomoisky
Besides murder, Kolomoisky is suspected of using “prohibited means and methods of warfare,” Interfax quoted Markin as saying.
Similar charges have been brought against Ukraine’s minister of internal affairs, Arsen Avakov. Their actions, Markin said, resulted in the death of more than 100 people and are the subject of an ongoing criminal probe.
The reports in Russian-language media about the opening of the investigation did not immediately include a reaction from Kolomoisky, who in the past dismissed as propaganda Russian condemnations of his actions to enforce the rule of law and to strengthen the Ukrainian army.
Kolomoisky, who became the governor of Dnepropetrovsk in March, has poured billions of his personal fortune into arming the Ukrainian army as its forces clashed with Russian troops. Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March following the ouster of President Viktor Yanukovych in a revolution that erupted over his alleged corruption and perceived allegiance to Russia.
Kolomoisky is widely credited for keeping the peace in Dnepropetrovsk, an industrial city, as pro-Russian separatists took control of parts of other cities near the Russian border. Hundreds have died in clashes with the Ukrainian army and police forces.
Separately, the Jewish mayor of Kharkiv, Gennady Kernes, returned to Ukraine Tuesday from Israel, where he underwent medical treatment following an attempt on his life in April, the Moscow Times reported.
Kernes was shot by a sniper while cycling outside Kharkiv on April 28.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
In Case You Missed It
-
Film & TV Val Kilmer was the voice of my generation’s Moses (and God)
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker spoke at a synagogue on Yom Kippur. Its rabbi says Jews should learn from his 25-hour Senate speech.
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker’s rabbi has notes on Booker’s 25-hour speech
-
Fast Forward Naftali Bennett is back: Former Israeli prime minister will make another run at Netanyahu
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.