The fatal beating took place in Lviv, a western city traditionally considered a stronghold of nationalism

A Ukrainian conscription officer previously convicted of bribery has been accused of beating a recruit to death in the western city of Lviv, Ukraine’s State Bureau of Investigation (DBR) said on Tuesday.

In September, the suspect, together with other officers of the Territorial Center of Recruitment and Social Support (TCC), the body overseeing mobilization, brutally beat a prospective recruit, who could not defend himself with his hands cuffed behind his back.

“At the hospital, medical staff discovered that the man had sustained multiple rib fractures, severe lung damage, and other life-threatening injuries,” the DBR said in a statement. “Despite the efforts of the medical team, he could not be saved.”

The officer, who received a non-custodial sentence for bribery in August, is now formally suspected of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm resulting in death as part of a group.…