A Russian soldier has been convicted in Ukraine for shooting a civilian family in the Kharkiv region
A court in Ukraine handed down the harshest possible sentence—life imprisonment—to a Russian soldier who opened fire on a civilian vehicle in the Kharkiv region in March 2022. The attack killed a father and his 9-year-old daughter; two other family members were seriously injured.
The court determined that the incident occurred on March 2, 2022, near the village of Dementiivka in the Kharkiv district, which was under Russian occupation at the time.
The family of four was attempting to evacuate in their own car when a Russian soldier in a tank spotted them.
According to the case file, the occupier opened fire with a large-caliber machine gun at the civilian car; after the car lost control, he fired again at the vehicle, causing it to catch fire.
As a result of the attack, the father and a 9-year-old child were killed on the spot. The mother and her 17-year-old son sustained serious injuries but managed to escape from the burning car and were rescued by local residents.
The court found the 23-year-old servicemember guilty of violating the laws and customs of war and of intentional murder (Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
According to the investigation, after the attack, the soldier told the victims:
“I have orders to shoot everyone,” after which he fled the scene of the crime.
Prosecutors proved in court that he was aware of the civilian status of the people, who posed no threat whatsoever.
This was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General.
Earlier, the Kherson City Court sentenced Russian police captain Alexander Medelsky to 10 years in prison for torturing civilians during the temporary occupation of the city.
Previously, based on evidence gathered by the Security Service of Ukraine, two FSB agents—who were exposed in late October 2025 while coordinating Russian airstrikes on Dnipro—were each sentenced to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.
The Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv found a soldier of the 1st Marine Company of the 1of the 40th Separate Marine Brigade of the Pacific Fleet of the Russian Armed Forces guilty of a war crime and sentenced him to life imprisonment.
