A Russian court sentenced a Ukrainian prisoner of war to life imprisonment

A Russian court in Moscow-controlled Donetsk sentenced a 25-year-old Ukrainian prisoner of war from the Azov regiment to life imprisonment. He was found guilty of killing civilians during the battles for Mariupol in 2022.

According to the verdict, machine gunner Sergey Mykhaylenko opened fire on a VAZ car with a family of civilians marked with white tapes, killing four people, including a three-year-old child. It is confirmed that the accused pleaded guilty. It is not known under what conditions the confession was made and whether he was granted qualified protection.

As RIA “Novosti” reports, the charges against the Ukrainian military were brought under the articles of murder motivated by hatred, attempted murder and brutal treatment of the civilian population. The Ukrainian publication “Novosti Donbasa” reported that another accused in the case is the commander of the “Azov” detachment, who was planned to be tried in absentia in Russia.

Mariupol was captured by Russian troops after heavy fighting in February – May 2022. According to various estimates, several thousand to several tens of thousands of civilians died during the capture of the city. Moscow announced the annexation of Mariupol together with the Donetsk region of Ukraine. The vast majority of countries in the world do not recognize the annexation.