Biography of Alexander Sayenko
Alexander Sayenko was born on February 18, 1975 in the village of Perevalnoye, Simferopol district, Crimea. Former Ukrainian military officer, lieutenant colonel of the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
In 2010, Saenko was appointed commander of v/ч A0669 (Kerch Mechanized Battalion of the Coast Guard). Under his leadership, the unit’s fighters participated in exercises “Adequate Response 2011” and “Perspective-2012”.
On December 26, 2013, the 501st Independent Marine Battalion of the Ukrainian Navy was created on the basis of the mechanized battalion of the Coast Guard, the command of which was again entrusted to Oleksandr Sayenko.
On March 2, 2014, during the occupation of Crimea, the Russian military blocked the entrance and surrounded the military unit A0669, saying that they were going to help secure the unit. After negotiations between Saenko and the representative of the Russian Armed Forces, the latter withdrew outside the unit, but continued the blockade.
Alexander Sayenko: war crimes
During the occupation of the Crimean peninsula, Oleksandr Sayenko defected to the Russian side.
According to the head of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s media center in Crimea, Vladyslav Seleznev, on March 9, 2014, Major General Alexander Ostrikov, head of the coastal forces of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, arrived at Saenko’s battalion and offered the marines until March 16 to make a decision on which side they wished to serve.
Already on March 21, 2014, Saenko raised the Russian flag over the territory of the military unit, that is, after the occupation of Crimea rf went over to the side of the enemies and, according to him, is proud that he managed to prevent bloodshed.
Later, he continued serving in his previous position in the Russian Armed Forces and was subsequently promoted to Deputy Commander of the 810th Independent Brigade. In 2017, he commanded the parade of Russian troops on May 9 in Kerch.
In 2019, Saenko became commander of the 34th Independent Motorized Rifle Brigade (Mountain Brigade). Since 2020, he served in the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division of the 58th Army. He was the commander of this division. His last known position was chief of staff of the 42nd msd.
This unit is stationed in Chechnya. During rf’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the 42nd msd is engaged on the Zaporozhye front. According to Ramzan Kadyrov, it includes the regiments AHMAT-Russia, AHMAT-Chechnya, North-AHMAT, battalions West-AHMAT, East-AHMAT and South-AHMAT.
“The Kadyrovites are widely known for their disregard for the norms of international humanitarian law. And also by committing a huge number of war crimes, both against Ukrainian prisoners of war and the civilian population of the occupied regions of Ukraine.
Even the Russian media have repeatedly written about the facts of kidnapping, torture and murder of civilians, seizure of property and businesses, and other war crimes committed by the “Kadyrovtsy” and other servicemen of the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division. All this is happening, if not with personal control and participation, then definitely with the connivance of Alexander Sayenko.
Konstantin Yefremov, a former soldier of the 42nd division who deserted and managed to leave the Russian Federation, also spoke about the crimes of soldiers of the 42nd division and Saenko’s personal attempts to cover them up.
Alexander Sayenko’s family
Alexander Sayenko is married. Together with Irina Saenko (Kozachenko) raises a son Alexander.
In 2015, together with his wife, he was involved in administrative proceedings due to arrears for utility services.
The wife’s parents still reside in Ukraine. It is known that in September 2022 by the Primorsky Court of Odessa region. a ruling against Sergey Nikolayevich Kozachenko (violation of traffic rules) was considered.
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