Mikhail Mizintsev: Bloody past of Russian Colonel dubbed ‘Butcher of Mariupol’

A high-ranking Russian commander who called for officers’ ears to be cut off has been identified as the man behind the shocking strikes on schools and hospitals in Ukraine.

A high-ranking Russian military leader who is believed to have orchestrated the devastating attack on Mariupol, including the deadly air strike at a maternity hospital, has been identified.

Officially known as the director of the Russian National Center for Defence Management, Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev has been dubbed the “Butcher of Mariupol” for his role in the war’s worst atrocities.

The spokesman for the Odessa military administration, Sergey Bratchuk, accused him of ordering several devastating strikes in Mariupol, which led to hundred of civilian deaths.

“He ordered the bombing of a maternity hospital, children’s hospital, drama theatre, and civilian homes,” Mr Bratchuk said.

“It is he who is destroying Mariupol, as he used to destroy Syrian cities.”

Chief of the National Centre for State Defense Control Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev. Picture: Getty Images

In the first attack, a maternity hospital was blown up, killing children and pregnant women, including one who was seen being stretchered away in agony.

In the second, air strikes destroyed a theatre that local officials said was a shelter for more than 1,000 civilians, mostly the young and the old — with “CHILDREN” clearly marked outside in Russian.

Located in southeastern Ukraine, the port city has been subjected to severe and constant artillery attack and bombings since Russian military invaded Ukraine on February 24.

The conditions are so severe, the once-beautiful city of 430,000 has been described by the Human Rights Watch as a “freezing hellscape riddled with dead bodies and destroyed buildings”.

Masha Feshchenko, 15, from Polohy, rests at the Zaporizhzhia Regional Clinical Children's Hospital on after fleeing Mariupol. Picture: AFP

Speaking about the siege, Col Mizintsev subverted the narrative and accused Ukrainian “neo-Nazis” and “bandits” of inciting “mass terror”.

A Ukrainian military spokesman, Sergey Bratchuk, also insisted that the ongoing assault on Mariupol was “personally controlled” by Col Mizintsev.

“This is [who] ordered to bomb the maternity hospital, children’s hospital, drama theatre, civilians’ homes. This is him destroying Mariupol, as he used to destroy Syrian cities,” Bratchuk wrote on Facebook.

Civilians in Mariupol. Picture: AAP

Ukraine’s former Ambassador to Austria, Olexander Scherba also described Col Mizintsev as the “Butcher of Mariupol,” sharing an intercepted audio clip between himself and a junior officer.

“Why isn’t his face not messed up yet? Why aren’t his ears cut off? Why wasn’t he beat with a bottle at night? Huh, comrade Scum?,” the ex-diplomat wrote of the alleged caught-on-tape exchange.

The Kremlin has not discussed who ordered individual attacks, which it claims have never targeted civilians, despite overwhelming evidence.

The butcher of #Mariupol gen. Mizintsev to a junior officer (intercept):

- Look at this little scum. Dressed not in uniform, but in his scum sweater. Why isn’t his face not messed up yet? Why aren’t his ears cut off? Why wasn’t he beat with a bottle at night? Huh, comrade Scum? pic.twitter.com/226N5vI7ia

— olexander scherba🇺🇦 (@olex_scherba) March 23, 2022

Officials have claimed the bloodied pregnant women were crisis actors, and that both the maternity hospital and drama theatre were really housing neo-Nazi troops.

However, Col Mizintsev has been confirmed as playing a leading role in operations in Mariupol, where he blames Ukrainian troops for creating “a terrible humanitarian catastrophe.”

On Sunday, he had promised “all those who lay down arms will be guaranteed a safe exit from Mariupol,” an offer that Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk rejected as “manipulation.”

“There can be no talk about surrender and laying down weapons,” Vereshchuk said.

Originally published as Mikhail Mizintsev: Bloody past of Russian Colonel dubbed ‘Butcher of Mariupol’