Kyiv reportedly extradites German suspected of rape who fought for Ukraine
Ukraine is extraditing a German citizen who fought in Ukraine's Defense Forces and is suspected of rape and other crimes, the BBC and Suspilne reported on March 17, citing sources in the Prosecutor General's Office.
Ben R. is suspected of rape in Germany and Ukraine, as well as possessing and distributing images of sexual violence, including those involving children, according to the BBC.
The German citizen reportedly fought for Ukraine between 2022 and 2024.
German prosecutors requested his extradition twice in late 2023, but Ukrainian authorities took the step only a year later, in December 2024. Ben R. was reportedly arrested in Sumy Oblast a month later and left Ukraine via the Polish border on March 17 to stand trial in Germany, the BBC reported.
Ben. R reportedly appealed the decision twice, but both times with procedural violations, leading to the court rejecting the appeals.
German prosecutors allegedly possess video evidence of Ben R. raping women, including two Ukrainians, one of whom is a minor. Both of them confirmed this during a pre-trial investigation by Ukrainian prosecutors, though the underage girl later withdrew her testimony, the BBC wrote.
The suspected rape of a minor remains under investigation.
Ben R. officially served in the International Legion of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) but also carried out tasks for combat units of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the BBC reported after receiving confirmation from both agencies. According to the outlet's sources, Ben R. took part in the battle of Bakhmut.
The International Legion is divided into two units, one under the military intelligence agency and the other under the Armed Forces.
Citizens from over 50 countries have joined the unit since the start of the full-scale invasion, including military veterans from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, Europe, and beyond, Ukraine's military intelligence said.
Initially lauded as a PR success, it soon became marred by scandals and stories about misconduct.
Prior to his service in Ukraine, Ben R. served in the German military but was banned from performing military service in March 2022 and officially discharged a year later following a probe by German military prosecutors, the German newspaper Spiegel reported.
Foreigners with criminal records cannot serve in Ukraine's Defense Forces.
Last year, Ukraine extradited Craig Lang, a U.S. citizen who fought for Ukraine but was wanted in his homeland on murder, robbery, and other charges.
Read also: Ukraine war latest: Ukraine confirms withdrawal from Sudzha in Russia's Kursk Oblast
We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘If you're a fascist, then get a Tesla': Neil Young's new album takes potshots Elon Musk
After weighing in behind Bruce Springsteen in his internationally reported takedown of President Trump's government onstage at Manchester Arena last month, this other left-leaning giant of American rock from the 1970s voiced fears that he, having been a consistent critic of Trump, chiefly over the issue of climate-change denial, may face problems regaining entry to his home nation following his European tour this summer. At this febrile moment, one might've expected Young, now 79, and as outspoken as ever – he made headlines last year after apparently refusing to sign up for Glastonbury 2025 on account of its BBC-driven corporatisation (he now appears to be headlining on Saturday night!) – to fill his latest long-player, his 46th studio outing, with polemical rantings, but as any long-standing fan knows, Young remains creatively wilful, and rarely serves up what might be expected of him at a given time. In recent years, he has been deluging the collector's market with archival releases, many of them 'new' old albums which he shelved years ago. In amongst all that, however, interested parties may be forgiven for not having noticed that Young had found a productive groove with a reconstituted line-up of his beloved, amps-on-11 backing band, Crazy Horse, releasing three new records with them, culminating with 2022's Rick Rubin-produced World Record. There, on Chevrolet, this unflagging automobile enthusiast wrung his hands about lusting after a vintage gas-guzzler. Further back, around his investment in a hybrid-electric model Lincoln, he wrote at length about the driver's responsibility to their children's health and survival on 2009's Fork In The Road, and perhaps the most immediately ear-catching moment on Talkin To The Trees arrives on Let's Roll Again, where, against clanging electric guitar chords, he urges America's automobile manufacturing giants, by name – Ford, GM and Chrysler – 'to build us something useful, something that won't kill our kids – come on America, let's roll again…on down the highway'. Alongside that responsible, depoliticised messaging, Young suddenly seems to find it hard to avoid needling at the Trump administration. 'China's way ahead, they're building clean cars,' he adds, knowing the mention of China will not be music to the president's ears. 'C'mon America, let's cover our backs, protect our children,' he goes on, before taking a clear potshot at Elon Musk. 'If you're a fascist, then get a Tesla: if it's electric then it doesn't matter. If you're a democrat: then chase your freedom, get whatever you want and taste your freedom.' Behind those words, of course, Young easily could've ramped up explicit themes of political dissent. Instead, his mind seems to be focused on enjoying the natural wonders of his ranch in Northern California, as well as, in the track Family Life, the domestic happiness he finds surrounded by his children and grandkids as he writes songs, and sings them for their approval, ' and also 'singing for my best wife ever, the best cook in the world' – a great review, indeed, for Darryl Hannah, the movie actor and activist, whom he married in 2018. Though second track Dark Mirage finds his 'new' band The Chrome Hearts – a mutation of his other one of late, Promise of the Real, with master soul keyboardist Spooner Oldham added – squalling into fierce feedback, as Young momentarily dips into lingering anger from his mid-'10s divorce – by and large, The Chrome Hearts are entrusted with summoning the kind of golden country-rock sound usually associated with Young's Harvest series – rustling acoustic guitars, blissful ivory-tinkling topped with Neil's wheezing harmonica, which light up rustic gems like First Fire Of Winter, the exquisite title track and the warm-hearted Thankful, As such, there's so much to enjoy here for long-standing fans – a mellow soundtrack perhaps for the four-wheel pilgrimage down to Glastonbury, with some fittingly thought-provoking messaging on automotive responsibility going forwards. In a week that has seen the passing of two of Young's West Coast peers, it's great to hear him sounding invigorated, domestically happy and creatively on song. Andrew Perry Prior to a brace of covers albums in 2023, it's fair to say that Belfast singer Van Morrison was in his 'late life super-grumpy' phase. Railing against everything from lockdown to scientists, he didn't hold back. My personal favourite from this era was a 2021 song called Why Are You on Facebook?, which contained the lines 'Why do you need second-hand friends? … Get a life.' And this from the sage who gave us Into The Mystic. Well, Van the Man is back doing what he does best. Remembering Now, his 47th album, is 14 songs of beautiful and reflective music addressing aging, romance and a sense of yearning for the landscapes and landmarks that made us who we are. It's 64 minutes of soulful blues and country folk, augmented by string arrangements by Fiachra Trench, who wrote the string parts for The Pogues' Fairytale of New York and worked with Morrison on his 1989 classic Avalon Sunset, to which Remembering Now can easily be compared. Folk star Seth Lakeman adds violin to three tracks. The album opens with Down to Joy, which soundtracked Kenneth Branagh's 2021 film Belfast and was nominated for a 'best original song' Oscar (Morrison lost out to Billie Eilish's Bond theme). Once In A Lifetime Feelings is one of three tracks with lyrics by Don Black, who's written for everyone from Meat Loaf to Michael Jackson. The song finds Morrison driving down to Monte Carlo with 'so much to say' to a loved one. It's fantastic. Stomping Ground sees the 79-year-old pleading to return to Belfast, while the closing nine-minute Stretching Out is simply swooning. The highlight is Haven't Lost My Sense of Wonder, which has touches of the awe that late songwriter Bill Fay saw in the world as he aged. 'Had my fill, 'cause I've been through the mill/ Now I'm saying 'Peace, be still,'' Morrison sings over lavish gospel-tinged soul. Under (hopefully) sunny skies, these songs will sound a treat when Morrison supports Neil Young in Hyde Park next month (along with Yusuf/ Cat Stevens). A lush return to form. James Hall Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Yahoo
37 minutes ago
- Yahoo
School killings leave stunned Austria and France searching for answers
Two shocking attacks within two hours of each other, in France and Austria, have left parents and governments reeling and at a loss how to protect school students from random, deadly violence. At about 08:15 on Tuesday, a 14-year-old boy from an ordinary family in Nogent, eastern France, drew out a kitchen knife during a school bag check and fatally stabbed a school assistant. Not long afterwards in south-east Austria, a 21-year-old who had dropped out of school three years earlier, walked into Dreierschützengasse high school in Graz at 09:43, and shot dead nine students and a teacher with a Glock 19 handgun and a sawn-off shotgun. In both countries there is a demand for solutions and for a greater focus on young people who resort to such violence. Austria has never seen a school attack on this scale, but the French stabbing took place during a government programme aimed at tackling the growth in knife crime. The Graz shooter, named by Austrian media as Arthur A, has been described by police as a very introverted person, who had retreated to the virtual world. His "great passion" was online first-person shooter games, and he had social contacts with other gamers over the internet, according to Michael Lohnegger, the criminal investigation chief in Styria, the state where it happened. A former student at the Dreierschützengasse school, Arthur A had failed to complete his studies. Arriving at the school, he put on a headset and shooting glasses, before going on a deadly seven-minute shooting spree. He then killed himself in a school bathroom. He owned the two guns legally, had passed a psychological test to own a licence and had several sessions of weapons training earlier this year at a Graz shooting club. This has sparked a big debate in Austria about whether its gun laws need to be tightened – and about the level of care available for troubled young people. It has emerged that the shooter was rejected from the country's compulsory military service in July 2021. Defence ministry spokesman Michael Bauer told the BBC that Arthur A was found to be "psychologically unfit" for service after he underwent tests. But he said Austria's legal system prevented the army from passing on the results of such tests. There are now calls for that law to be changed. Alex, the mother of a 17-year-old boy who survived the shooting, told the BBC that more should have been done to prevent people like Arthur A from dropping out of school in the first place. "We know… that when people shoot each other like this, it's mostly when they feel alone and drop out and be outside. And we don't know how to get them back in, into society, into the groups, into their peer groups," she said. "We, as grown-ups, have got the responsibility for that, and we have to take it now." President Alexander Van der Bellen raised the possibility of tightening Austria's gun laws, on a visit to Graz after the attack: "If we come to the conclusion that Austria's gun laws need to be changed to ensure greater safety, then we will do so." Austria has one of the most heavily armed civilian populations in Europe, with an estimated 30 firearms per 100 people. Although there have been school shootings here before, they have been far smaller and involved far fewer casualties. The mayor of Graz, Elke Kahr, believes no private person should be able to have weapons at all. "Weapons licences are issued too quickly," she told Austria's ORF TV. "Only the police should carry weapons, not private individuals." What we know about Austria school shooting Graz in shock and grief after attack Armed gendarmes were present at the entrance to the Françoise Dolto middle school in Nogent, 100km (62 miles) east of Paris, when a teenager pulled out a 20cm kitchen knife and repeatedly stabbed Mélanie G, who was 31 and had a four-year-old son. The boy accused of carrying out the murder told police that he had been reprimanded on Friday by another school assistant for kissing his girlfriend. As a result he had a grudge against school assistants in general, and apparently had made up his mind to kill one. Schools were closed on Monday for a bank holiday, and Tuesday was his first day back. The state prosecutor's initial assessment was that the boy, called Quentin, came from a normal functioning family, and had no criminal or mental health record. However, the child also appeared detached and emotionless. Adept at violent video games, he showed a "fascination with death" and an "absence of reference-points relating to the value of human life". The Nogent attack does not fit the template of anti-social youth crime or gang violence seen in France until now. Nor is there any suggestion of indoctrination over social media. According to the prosecutor, the boy did little of that. He had been violent on two occasions against fellow pupils, and was suspended for a day each time. There is no family breakdown or deprivation and school officials described him as "sociable, a pretty good student, well-integrated into the life of the establishment". This year he had even been named the class "ambassador" on bullying. For all the calls for greater security at schools, this crime took place literally under the noses of armed gendarmes. As Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau put it, some crimes will happen no matter how many police you deploy. For more information on the boy's state of mind, we must wait for the full psychologist's report, and it may well be that there were signs missed, or there are family details we do not yet know about. On the face of it, he is perhaps more a middle-class loner, and his apparent normality suggests a crime triggered by internalised mental processes, rather than by peer-driven association or emulation. That is what strikes the chord in France. If an ordinary boy can turn out like this from watching too many violent videos, then who is next? Significantly, the French government had only just approved showing the British Netflix series Adolescence as an aid in schools. There are differences, of course. The boy arrested for the killing of a teenage girl in the TV series yields to evil "toxic male" influences on social media – but there is the same question of teenagers being made vulnerable by isolation online. Across the political spectrum, there are calls for action but little agreement on what should be the priority, nor hope that anything can make much difference. Before the killing, President Emmanuel Macron had angered the right by saying they were too obsessed with crime, and not sufficiently interested in other issues like the environment. The Nogent attack put him on the back foot, and he has repeated his pledge to ban social media to under 15-year-olds. But there are two difficulties. One is the practicality of the measure, which in theory is being dealt with by the EU but is succumbing to endless procrastination. The other is that, according to the prosecutor, the boy was not especially interested in social media. It was violent video games that were his thing. Prime Minister François Bayrou has said that sales of knives to under-15s will be banned. But the boy took his from home. Bayrou says airport-style metal-detectors should be tested at schools, but most heads are opposed. The populist right wants tougher sentences for teenagers carrying knives, and the exclusion of disruptive pupils from regular classes. But the boy in Nogent was not a problem child. About the only measure everyone says is needed is more provision of school doctors, nurses and psychologists in order to detect early signs of pupils going off the rails. That of course will require a lot of money, which is another thing France does not have a lot of.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Three Ukrainians killed in bus accident in France, Zelensky confirms
Three Ukrainian nationals were killed in a bus accident in France on June 13, President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in a statement on Telegram. "Terrible news about the tragic bus accident in France," Zelensky wrote. The accident occurred in the morning of June 13, near the Sarthe department of France. The bus was reportedly carrying Ukrainian nationals, including adults and children, who were returning from an educational exchange. While en route to Paris, the bus lost control and flipped into a ditch. Four adults were killed in total – three of whom were Ukrainian nationals. French media reported that nine people sustained serious injuries, while an additional 18 suffered minor injuries. Zelensky added that Ukraine's Foreign Ministry promptly sent a team of diplomats and consuls, led by the ambassador to France, to assist survivors and support the victims' families. The team is coordinating with French authorities and emergency services at the scene. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko are providing regular updates on the victims' conditions and emerging details regarding the accident. Zelensky thanked the French authorities, noting that "more than 50 emergency teams were deployed" in what he called "a true expression of French solidarity."He also expressed his "condolences to all the families of the victims" and wished for a "speedy recovery of the injured children." Read also: Russian military equipment reportedly hit in Ukrainian drone attack against Crimea We've been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
