Azatbek Omurbekov, dubbed the "Butcher of Bucha," was elevated from lieutenant colonel to full colonel despite men under his command being accused of mass civilian executions, torture and gang rape, Britain's Daily Mail newspaper reported on its website.
The Ukrainian defence ministry said in a tweet that, for the "civilized world," Omurbekov "is an "executioner, killer, rapist," and "looter," but for the Kremlin he is a "hero."
It added that Omurbekov's promotion in the wake of "the Bucha Massacre" was intended to motivate him "to commit new war crimes."
Omurbekov led Russia's 64th Separate Motorised Rifle Brigade, which is accused of committing war crimes in Bucha near Kyiv, where mass graves of murdered civilians were discovered in early April after the withdrawal of Russian troops from northern Ukraine, Poland's PAP news agency reported.
The United Nations General Assembly this month suspended Russia from the UN Human Rights Council amid reports of "gross and systematic violations and abuses of human rights" in Ukraine.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said in early April that Russian war crimes in Ukraine were “the darkest chapter in the history of 21st-century Europe” and urged an international inquiry into the atrocities.
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Source: PAP, dailymail.co.uk