Alexander Vasilyevich Krasnoyartsev

Alexander Vasilyevich Krasnoyartsev (born 21 June 1986)^[2] is a Russian military pilot who fought in the Syrian civil war and the Russo-Ukrainian war. He came to prominence after his plane was shot down over Chernihiv and photos of his capture were widely circulated. While attempting to evade capture he killed a civilian, for which he was later convicted as a war criminal by a local court in Ukraine.

Krasnoyartsev is believed to have seen combat in the Syrian civil war after a picture emerged appearing to show him at Khmeimim Air Base alongside Vladimir Putin and Bashar al-Assad,^[3] this has been disputed by Bellingcat.^[4]

Shortly after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, on March 5, 2022, he took off from Seshcha and was conducting a bombing raid on Chernihiv^[5] when his Sukhoi Su-34 was shot down by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.^[6] He and his co-pilot ejected, and he landed on the roof of a private residence where he was spotted by homeowner Vitaliy Sherhiyenko. Krasnoyartsev shot Sherhiyenko twice with his Makarov pistol, killing him.^[6][1] He was found hiding in a nearby utility room a short time later when he surrendered.^[1] His copilot, Konstantin Kryvolapov was found dead at the scene having died as a result of the downing of the plane.^[1]

Following his capture, Krasnoyartsev was interrogated by Ukraine, with the interrogation being shared online.^[5][7][8]

Shortly after his capture Krasnoyartsev was returned to Russia as part of a prisoner exchange, this was only made public in October, with Kyrylo Budanov stating that 5 pilots were returned to Ukraine in exchange for Krasnoyartsev.^[9][10][11] The exchange of war criminals like Krasnoyartsev has received criticism, with lawyer for Russian war crime victims, Yurii Bilous, claiming that not having to serve a lengthy sentence when captured would give perpetrators a sense of amnesty, while members of the administration, such as deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andrii Leshchenko, have defended these exchanges as it allows more Ukrainian prisoners of war, who would otherwise be subjected to torture and abuse in captivity, to be returned.^[12]

By April 23, 2022, Ukrainian investigators accused Krasnoyartsev of violating the laws and customs of war under Part 2 of Article 438 of the criminal code.^[2][7] He was found guilty and sentenced in absentia to 14 years imprisonment as well as paying two million hryvnia in moral damages by the Novozavodskyi District Court of Chernihiv in October 2023.^[2][13] An appeal of the conviction was rejected in January 2024.^[14]