Bessonov Dmitry Grigorevich

Dmitry Grigoryevich Bessonov — Senior Lieutenant, commander of a launch battery of a missile battalion — military unit 35535 — 448th Missile Brigade of the 20th Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces.

According to open registries, while serving as commander of a launch battery of the missile battalion of the 448th Missile Brigade of the 20th Combined Arms Army of the Western Military District of the Ground Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, he directly supervised combat crews of Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system launchers, controlled missile preparation for launch, and executed target engagement commands.

There are reasonable grounds to believe that the individual is involved in the direct execution of criminal orders to carry out ballistic missile strikes on densely populated cities, energy, and civilian infrastructure facilities that are not military targets.

These actions led to mass civilian deaths and large-scale destruction, constituting a component of Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine and simultaneously bearing signs of violations of the laws and customs of war.

Furthermore, the individual did not exercise the right to refuse to carry out a clearly criminal order, the obligation not to execute which is stipulated by norms of international law, thereby becoming an accomplice to the crime.

Senior Lieutenant Bessonov, Dmitry Grigoryevich, in his capacity as commander of the launching battery of the missile battalion of the 448th Missile Brigade, directly commanded the combat crews of the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile system launchers. There are substantiated grounds to believe that he was involved in carrying out criminal orders to launch ballistic missile strikes against densely populated Ukrainian cities as well as energy and civilian infrastructure facilities. These actions, which do not serve military objectives, resulted in mass civilian casualties and large-scale destruction, qualifying as a violation of the laws and customs of war. Bessonov failed to exercise his right to refuse to execute a manifestly criminal order, thereby becoming an accomplice to war crimes.