A Ukrainian court has sentenced a Russian soldier to life in prison for killing a Ukrainian soldier in 2024 after being ordered not to take Ukrainians captive, the BBC reports.
The court has found 27-year-old Russian soldier Mitry Kurashov guilty of the murder of 41-year-old soldier Vitaly Khodnyuk. Ukrainian police said expert reports, witness testimony and video footage from the scene confirmed that the Russian soldier had “deliberately” shot the prisoner of war on orders from his commander. The court heard how Kurashov’s unit took over Ukrainian positions in the Zaporizhzhia region on the morning of January 6, 2024. The prosecutor’s office stated that Khodnyuk emerged from the trenches unarmed and immediately surrendered, and Kurashov fired several rounds from an AK-47 assault rifle at him, a violation of the laws of war.
Kurashov and the other members of his unit were later captured by Ukrainian forces. Initially, the Russian admitted his guilt, but then retracted his statement, indicating that he had confessed only in the hope of a faster trial and the opportunity to return to Russia in the prisoner exchange process.
Kurashov insisted that the Ukrainian soldier was killed by a medic from his unit,
who himself later died. This version was denied by members of Kurashov’s unit – they said during interrogation that they did not see the moment of the murder, but that only Kurashov was present at the specific location at that time. The medic, whom the defendant blamed, was not at the scene.
Kurashov himself did not testify in court. His lawyer, Anna Karpenko, said her client was truly remorseful and believed he was simply following orders not to take prisoners. Prosecutor Nikita Menevsky said Kurashov had shown no remorse and had been completely indifferent throughout the trial.
Earlier this year, Kurashov told the BBC that he had joined the war because it offered him an early release from a remote Russian prison where he was serving a sentence for theft. Russian military officials have reportedly promised to commute his prison terms if prisoners go to war.
The recruitment of prisoners for war is a well-known practice in Russia, and those who choose to go to war usually end up in poorly trained assault units.
Read also: Russian oil or Trump’s favor – Orbán’s difficult choice