The court in Russia handed down a 20-year sentence in a strict regime colony to soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine for attempted murder and murder of two or more people. The verdict also covers ill-treatment of civilians and the use of prohibited means and methods in armed conflict. The decision was reported by the Russian authorities and reflected in the official press release issued by the Main Military Prosecutor’s Office of Russia, with support from prosecutors of the Combined Forces Military Prosecutor’s Office.
According to the court’s findings, the case centers on events that occurred in April 2022 in Rubizhne, located in the Severodonetsk district of the Luhansk region. Investigators established that the accused received orders from their commanders to act in a way that would target a civilian vehicle moving through a dangerous frontline area. The motive, as described in the case materials, was to block civilian evacuation efforts that were underway amid heavy artillery shelling.
Evidence presented at trial indicates that a service member of the Ukrainian armed forces fired a rocket-propelled flamethrower at a civilian vehicle. The attackers attempted to stop the civilians from leaving the area. The result was the deaths of two civilians and injuries to three others of varying severity. The vehicle was left completely ablaze as a consequence of the attack, illustrating the severity of the breach in international humanitarian norms that protect protected persons and civilian vessels from direct harm in armed conflict.
In related proceedings, a separate case involved a former Ukrainian army prisoner named Andrey Neznamov. He was convicted in Russia for throwing a hand grenade through the window of an apartment in the Luhansk People’s Republic area of Severodonetsk, injuring a woman inside. He received a sentence of up to 12 years in prison for these actions. These cases underscore ongoing judicial actions tied to war-related offenses, with prosecutors emphasizing accountability for acts that threaten civilian lives and infringe the laws of war. The court’s rulings are subject to standard post-trial procedures and potential avenues for appeal as defined by applicable military and civilian legal frameworks, and the details provided reflect the official statements from the respective prosecutorial authorities (attribution: Main Military Prosecutor’s Office of Russia; Combined Forces Military Prosecutor’s Office).)