A court in southern Russia has sentenced two Russian soldiers to life imprisonment, about a year after the murders of nine Ukrainian citizens, including two children.
Investigators said the two suspects entered a house in the city of Volnovakha, which is located in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region and occupied by Russian forces. They then shot dead a three-generation family with their silenced weapons.
The defendants deny the crime and have announced they will appeal the verdict, Russian state news agency Tass reported on Friday.
Initially, the motive was said to be an attempt to obtain vodka, which is prohibited for active duty troops. However, the verdict states that the perpetrators committed the murder out of “political, ideological, racist, national or religious hatred.”
The trial took place behind closed doors.
Kiev has repeatedly accused Russian forces of committing serious crimes in the war zone. Moscow generally denies that such crimes have occurred, and the Russian parliament has even passed a law making it a criminal offense to “defame” the Russian military.
Public reports of such verdicts – especially with such a justification confirming the Ukrainian accusations – are considered relatively rare.
