I hope one day every Russian criminal will be punished

In the Kharkiv region of Ukraine, police chief Serhii Bolvinov heads a team dedicated to gathering evidence of war crimes against innocent slain civilians. Express Investigations Editor ZAK GARNER-PURKIS reports on his heroic and dangerous battle to deliver justice

- ZAK GARNER-PURKIS

AS WE drive through the Ukrainian countryside in his armoured, unmarked 4X4, Kharkiv police chief Serhii Bolvinov pulls out his phone to show videos of a new hobby he uses to relax between Russian war crime investigations.

“When I have a free day, which unfortunately is not very often, I take my sniper rifle, go to the long-distance range and shoot,” he says, pointing to a slow-motion video where he peers through a scope as bullet casings cascade into the air. “The longest distance I’ve hit the target from is 1.8km,” he adds with a smile.

For a man whose days involve interviewing victims of torture and painstakingly chronicling how children were murdered, shooting might sound like an unusual way to let off steam.

But for those living in a war zone, even pastimes tend to have a practical edge, especially if you are, like Serhii, personally wanted dead by Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Since the full-scale invasion in 2022, Russian bombs have destroyed multiple Kharkiv police headquarters and targeted crime scene evidence. A warrant for Serhii’s arrest has been issued by an occupied territory. He has 1,000 people working for him, and many of his colleagues are being killed in the line of duty. And as Serhii, 42, continues to put himself in the firing line by collecting evidence of Russian war crimes, I’ve come to the front line to watch him work.

“They published my personal mobile number, information about my family and where I live,” he tells me as the car slows for a military checkpoint with sandbags and soldiers.

“It was not just me [targeted] but also my team, who investigate war crimes.”

Serhii pauses to pull up the Russian wanted poster on his phone that was sent to thousands of people on the encrypted app Telegram.

To “save his life”, he was forced to move house, get rid of his phone and source a car that can withstand gunfire.