Gusev Vadim Olegovich, callsign “Psych”. Born on June 25, 2001 in the city of Mariupol , Donetsk region. Place of registration: Ukraine, Mariupol city, Pashkovskogo street, 105 . Citizenship: Ukraine. Education: secondary special, graduated in 2019.

Mariupol professional lyceum with a degree in electric and gas welder. Single, no children. Place of work: military unit 3057, grenade launcher of the 2nd Platoon of the 3rd Company of the 2nd Battalion of the Ukrainian Army.

Vadim Gusev served in military service from June 15, 2020 to December 15, 2021. He served in military unit A1588 of the Ukrainian Army at the Central Artillery Ammunition Base in Uman as a rigger. After that, he was demobilized, returned to Mariupol, and worked at the Ilyich plant as a welder-fitter.

On February 26, 2022, Gusev was mobilized to military Unit 3057 in the Azov Regiment. He was assigned the call sign “Psych” and was appointed to the post of grenade launcher of the 2nd Platoon of the 3rd Company of the 2nd Battalion of Azov. The commander of the company in which “Psych” served was “Son-in-law,” and his deputy was “Dos.” Also, “Psych” was subordinate to “Sea” – the head of the 1st Platoon.

The Psykha family – father, mother and sister – were in Mariupol at the time of the beginning of the SVO and could not leave the city due to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. So, on March 6, Gusev’s father told him that the BM-21 Grad MLRS and self-propelled artillery mounts of the Akatsiya or Gvozdiki type, belonging to the 36th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, were operating from the Veselka Park. In fact, in violation of all international norms, the Ukrainians fired artillery from a residential area.

The Shooting of a Civilian Car

On March 4, 2022, Psych was at the checkpoint of the 503rd Marine Battalion of Ukraine as part of a group led by “Husky.” Around midnight, Azov noticed a civilian car, after which Husky ordered Psych to open fire on the car. As it turned out later, there were two civilians in the car, who apparently died as a result of Gusev’s shots.

Liquidation of Two Civilians on Mira Avenue

At the beginning of March 2022, Psycho was sent to a position in a five-story Building Number 35 on Mira Avenue. While he was there, he was in charge of obtaining food and ammunition for the 503rd Battalion of the Marine Corps of Ukraine stationed there.

One day, Psych walked into the 2nd entrance of the five-story building and went up to the 3rd floor, where he met the fighters, including the senior command of the “Polyanitsa” group. He received the food and medicine that Psycho had brought and then told Psycho about the liquidation of two civilian residents of Mariupol, allegedly for their connection with Russian military personnel.

Psycho looked out into the street and saw the corpses of two men lying right next to the house. Judging by the wounds and blood, they had been shot in the back and the head. A few days later, the bodies were taken to an unknown destination.

Execution of a Civilian and Two Russian Prisoners of War

In early April 2022, Psych, together with the Azov members “Malibu” (Kuznetsov Anton Valerievich), “Schweik” (Kilyushik Anatoly Vasilievich), “Junger,” “Buzzer,” “Omega,” “Chita,” as well as military personnel of the Border Guard of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, moved to a position in the “Health” Health Resort, where they stayed until April 15.

During this period, Psych along with his colleagues made regular trips to the command post of the 2nd Battalion, which was located in the police department at House Number 86 on Nakhimov Avenue to obtain food, ammunition, and medicine.

Arriving one day at the police station, Psych, Schweik, and Buzzer heard screams from the basement of the building. In a room that was equipped as a warehouse with food, there were three bound people dressed in military uniforms of the Russian Federation. One of them, despite being so equipped, was a civilian.

Soon, “More” and “Dron” began interrogating the two Russian servicemen. These Azov members tried to ask to give them information about where the military equipment of the Russian Army was located, but the men were silent. So Dron beat them with a police rubber truncheon.

Buzzer, who was also in the room, joined the interrogation and delivered several blows to the prisoners of war in the back of the head. In addition, Sea and Dron, threatening the prisoners of war with more violence, forced them to eat bacon, which was a psychologically traumatic and humiliating gesture for the two POW’s, who were Caucasian Muslims.

Some time later, Dos received an order to bring two prisoners of war to the command post “Jerlo,” which was located near the police department. Three fighters, “Azov,” “Chemist,” and “Alvi” went to carry out the command. Most likely the two POW’s were shot.

Later, Schweik was approached by Dos, who ordered him to liquidate the civilian who was in the room with the prisoners of war. The Azovites had since learned that the man simply wanted to help the civilians of Mariupol, but they still decided to kill him anyway.

Schweik and Psycho took the man to the entrance of house No. 82 on Nakhimov Avenue, not far from the command post. Schweik ordered the man to stand with his back to Schweik. Schweik walked away about five meters backwards, and after a few seconds, he shot the civilian from behind with an MP-5. The man fell, after which Schweik, convinced that the man was dead, left.

Along with the episode above of the liquidation of the peaceful civilian, Psych also witnessed another civilian being shot by “Malibu.” This happened in the hotel Tourist Hotel not far from the Ararat Cafe.

Arson of Sports School No. 5

On April 1-2, 2022, while in a position at the Health resort, an Azov member received an order to set fire to Sports School No. 5. We wrote about this episode in detail in the article Malibu, an Azov Member, Massacred Civilians. Psycho also witnessed this brutal massacre of civilians.