Russia's ruling party running Bucha occupation veteran for State Duma

The Moscow party list for the pro-Putin United Russia party in Russia’s upcoming State Duma election includes Eduard Shonov, a former special forces fighter who took part in the occupation of Ukraine’s Kyiv region and may have been involved in war crimes committed there, Novaya Gazeta Europe has determined.

The commander of Shonov's former brigade has been charged in Ukraine with ordering the murder of 30 civilians in the town of Bucha.

Shonov is all but certain to win a Duma seat: besides appearing second on the party list, he is also running in a single-mandate constituency in Moscow's Perovo district.

No open sources identify the name or number of the military unit Shonov served in. His official candidate biography lists his last military posting only as deputy commander of a detachment in a special forces brigade, and states that he had served in more junior positions within a special forces unit since 2017.

Three pieces of circumstantial evidence, however, link him to the Airborne Forces' 45th Separate Guards Special Purpose Brigade. Leaked Russian databases show that Shonov is registered at an address in Kubinka, outside Moscow — the town where the 45th Brigade is based. He also holds the Airborne Forces' “For Distinction” award, and one contact has saved his number in their phone as “Shonov 45.”

In May 2024, Shonov was selected for Time of Heroes, a Kremlin programme training veterans of the invasion of Ukraine for official posts. He began with an internship under Moscow Deputy Mayor Natalia Sergunina.

By April 2025, he had been appointed an adviser to Moscow's Department of Entrepreneurship, where he now oversees a drone training centre. Little else is publicly known about his background.

In the early days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the 45th Brigade fought for control of the Antonov airfield in Hostomel before taking part in the occupation of Bucha. The brigade's commander, Vadim Pankov, has since been sanctioned by the EU.

“[Pankov’s] brigade was involved in the occupation of Bucha. He is accused of ordering the execution of 30 local residents and forcing civilians to remove the bodies of dead Russian soldiers. Those atrocities constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes,” reads the sanctions listing. The source for these assertions is an investigation published in 2025 by The Sunday Times into the Russian occupation of the Kyiv region.

Human rights organisations have also linked the 45th Brigade to war crimes in the town of Dymer, also in the Kyiv region. There, over several days in March 2022, Russian troops held several dozen local residents in the compressor room of a window factory. According to eyewitness accounts, the detainees were subjected to brutal interrogation and beatings; some were later taken to Russia.