Ukraine sentences Russian soldiers for crimes against civilians

A court in Ukraine has convicted two Russian servicemen of committing war crimes against civilians during the occupation of part of Mykolaiv Region.

According to the statement of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the verdict was handed down by the Snihurivka District Court of Mykolaiv Region.

The defendants were identified as soldiers of the 108th Air Assault Regiment of the 7th Air Assault Division of the Russian Airborne Forces. Prosecutors said the two were involved in the abuse of civilians and the killing of a local resident during the temporary occupation of a village in the Bashtanka district.

The court found one of the servicemen guilty of violating the laws and customs of war and sentenced him to 12 years in prison. The second defendant was convicted under several articles of Ukraine’s Criminal Code and received a life sentence.

Investigators established that on March 21, 2022, Russian troops entered the village of Novopetrivka using armoured vehicles and ordered the village head to collect weapons from local residents. According to the Ukrainian side, the weapons had previously been abandoned by Russian units during an earlier retreat.

To avoid putting fellow villagers at risk, the village head’s husband, who was a civilian, independently gathered the weapons that had been found and went to the location specified by the Russian military. He was subsequently forcibly detained, had his hands bound with plastic restraints, and was held for several hours at the military unit’s location. Investigators state that the man later died.

On the same day, another resident of Novopetrivka was abducted. According to the investigation, he was also illegally detained, threatened with weapons, and subjected to violence.

The Office of the Prosecutor General emphasised that investigations into war crimes committed during the conflict are ongoing. It noted that international and Ukrainian journalists and investigators have previously reported the identification of dozens of Russian servicemen whom Ukraine considers responsible for crimes against civilians, including in Bucha in the Kyiv Region.

Ukrainian authorities added that the full number of victims and the circumstances surrounding a number of incidents are still being clarified.

By Tamilla Hasanova