A Russian Marine Corps commander has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of seven civilians in the Kherson region
The commander of a Marine Corps unit of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, who defected to the enemy and was involved in the killing of seven civilians, has been sentenced to life imprisonment with confiscation of property.
This was reported by the press center of the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Following a public indictment by the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office, the court found him guilty of high treason and violations of the laws and customs of war that resulted in the death of people (Parts 1 and 2 of Article 111, Part 2 of Article 28, and Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).
It was proven that after the occupation of Crimea, he obtained Russian citizenship, joined the armed forces of the aggressor country, and became a unit commander. In 2022, in the temporarily occupied territory of the Kherson region, he directed military operations and participated in crimes against the civilian population.
In particular, in April 2022, in the village of Pravdyne, his subordinates detained civilians, held them in a private home, and used violence, resulting in the deaths of seven people, including a 15-year-old girl. To conceal the crime, the house, along with the bodies, was blown up.
“After the de-occupation of the settlement in November 2022, prosecutors, together with police investigators and experts, conducted an exhumation of the bodies and a detailed examination of the crime scene. The victims had gunshot wounds to the head and their hands were bound. Forensic examinations unequivocally confirmed the violent nature of the deaths,” said Serhiy Hrytsenko, head of the Kherson Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
Testimonies from local residents added to the picture of the crime: the occupiers did not allow the victims to be buried for a long time. They made an exception only for a child, who was buried the next day.
“This crime is yet another demonstration of the enemy’s contempt for human life and dignity. After killing the victims, the defendant took the phone of one of the deceased, replaced the SIM card, and called his wife in Russia. For him, it was just another day on the job. Such behavior is telling; it underscores the sense of complete impunity with which Russian military personnel operated in the occupied territory. That is precisely why the principle of the inevitability of punishment in such cases is of fundamental importance,” added Hrytsenko.
Earlier, a Russian serviceman from the 90th Guards Tank Division was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the abduction of a civilian and the unlawful seizure of property in the Chernihiv region.
A Russian GRU agent who attempted to steal classified documentation regarding the Ukrainian T-84BM “Oplot” tank was sentenced to 14 years in prison with confiscation of property.
