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Russia

Who is the 'butcher of Mariupol' who allegedly ordered hospital bombing

Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev also reportedly coordinated the attacks in Syria

By Peter Aitken Fox News
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Russian Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev has earned the nickname "Butcher of Mariupol" for masterminding the harrowing attack on the Ukrainian city that has reduced it to rubble. 

Ukrainian military officials claim that Mizintsev orchestrated a similar attack in Syria, leaving the city of Aleppo bomb-shattered. The attack in Mariupol included the bombing of a theater that had marked itself as a shelter with children – an attack that killed roughly 300 people seeking refuge at the time. 

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Mizintsev, 59, serves as the head of the National Centre for Defense Management, which Russia established in 2014 to direct future military operations. 

  • Russia Colonel General Mizintsev
    Image 1 of 4

    Mikhail Mizintsev, Russia's Colonel General and head of the National Centre for State Defence Control, speaks during a session, held by the Joint Coordination Centre of the Defence and Foreign Ministries of Russia and dedicated to a humanitarian mission involving refugees from Syria, in Moscow, Russia July 25, 2018.  (Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin)

  • Russia Colonel General Mizintsev
    Image 2 of 4

    Participants listen to Mikhail Mizintsev, Russia's Colonel General and head of the National Centre for State Defence Control, during a session, held by the Joint Coordination Centre of the Defence and Foreign Ministries of Russia and dedicated to a humanitarian mission involving refugees from Syria, in Moscow, Russia July 25, 2018.  (Reuters/Sergei Karpukhin)

  • In this Wednesday, July. 27, 2016 photo, provided by the Syrian anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC), shows Syrian citizens inspect damaged buildings after airstrikes hit Aleppo, Syria. Residents trapped in rebel-controlled Aleppo are struggling to survive the crippling encirclement of their once thriving city. Bread, medication and fuel are running short. For the tens of thousands who chose to remain, the battle for Aleppo is a pivot point in the Syrian war. (Aleppo Media Center via AP)
    Image 3 of 4

    FILE - n this Wednesday, July. 27, 2016 photo, provided by the Syrian anti-government activist group Aleppo Media Center (AMC), shows Syrian citizens inspect damaged buildings after airstrikes hit Aleppo, Syria. (Aleppo Media Center via AP)

  • In this photo taken Aug. 20, 2016 and provided by the local council of Aleppo city, Syrians workers fix electricity cables after airstrikes, in Aleppo, Syria. The opposition-held districts of the Syrian city have been surrounded and under siege for months. Russian and Syrian warplanes are bombing the streets into rubble and government forces are chipping away at the pocket of opposition control. (Local Council of Aleppo City via AP)
    Image 4 of 4

    In this photo taken Aug. 20, 2016 and provided by the local council of Aleppo city, Syrians workers fix electricity cables after airstrikes, in Aleppo, Syria. The opposition-held districts of the Syrian city have been surrounded and under siege for months. Russian and Syrian warplanes are bombing the streets into rubble and government forces are chipping away at the pocket of opposition control.  (Local Council of Aleppo City via The Associated Press)

Here’s what else you need to know about the man who sits in one of the most powerful seats in Russia. 

SOVIET-MADE

Mizintsev was born during the height of the Soviet Union’s power in 1962 in a village some 400 miles outside of Moscow. 

He swiftly rose through the ranks, studying at the Kiev Higher Combined Arms Command School before becoming the commander of a recon platoon in the Soviet army in East Germany – the same region where KGB agent Vladimir Putin operated.

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Following the fall of the Soviet Union, Mizintsev deployed to the Caucasus to command a motorized rifle battalion. 

His return to Moscow in the late 1990s led to rapid promotion, culminating in a post in 2003 as the head of operations directorate of the chief of staff, a role that tasked him with military planning duties. 

He then took control of the National Centre for Defense Management, at which point he reportedly coordinated Russia’s involvement in the Syrian civil war between 2015 and 2016. 

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SYRIAN OPERATIONS

Russia assisted Syrian government forces with a series of air strikes, hitting Aleppo with attacks that killed around 1,700 civilians. 

Russian forces reportedly used cluster and incendiary bombs and chemical weapons in residential areas, including hospitals. 

  • Satellite imagery captured by Maxar shows the Mariupol Drama Theater in Ukraine before and after an airstrike March 16, 2022. The word "children" can be seen in white letters.
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    Satellite imagery captured by Maxar shows the Mariupol Drama Theater in Ukraine before and after an airstrike March 16, 2022. The word "children" can be seen in white letters. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies)

  • Russia Mariupol Ukraine attack
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    An apartment building explodes after a Russian army tank fires in Mariupol, Ukraine, Friday, March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

  • Image 3 of 3

    A Ukrainian serviceman guards his position in Mariupol, Ukraine, Saturday, March 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov) (AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov)

UKRAINE 

Mizintsev has served as the face of the Russian press in statements about the siege of Mariupol. 

In video briefings, he called the Ukrainians "bandits" and "neo-Nazis" and accuses them of engaging in "mass terror." 

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He stands accused of ordering the strikes on multiple civilian infrastructure targets, including schools, hospitals and the theater that sheltered more than 1,000 civilians. 

Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of Ukraine’s Centre for Civil Liberties, called on Mizintsev to face war crime charges at the Hague.

Peter Aitken is a Fox News Digital reporter with a focus on national and global news.