Russian soldiers sentenced for shelling Ukrainian villages in war crimes trial

A Ukrainian court sentenced two captured  Russian soldiers to more than 11 years in prison Tuesday for shelling towns in eastern Ukraine, marking the second war crimes verdict since the start of Russia’s invasion in late February.

Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov, who listened to the verdict standing in a reinforced glass booth at the Kotelevska district court in central Ukraine, both pleaded guilty to violating the laws and customs of war last week.

“The guilt of Bobikin and Ivanov has been proven in full,” Judge Evhen Bolybok said.

Prosecutors had asked for 12 years, but defense lawyers said the sentence should be eight years, taking into account that the soldiers had pleaded guilty and expressed remorse and had been following orders.

The judge condemned the two defendants to 11 years and 6 months behind bars.

After the verdict, Bobikin and Ivanov were asked if they felt the sentence was fair, and both said “yes.” Guards armed with Kalashnikov rifles handcuffed the two and led them out of the courtroom.

Both acknowledged last week being part of an artillery unit that fired at towns in the Kharkiv region with Grad missiles from Russia’s Belgorod region.

Prosecutors said the shelling had destroyed critical infrastructure and houses in several settlements across the border and an educational facility in the town of Derhachi, but caused no casualties.

Bobikin and Ivanov, described as an artillery driver and a gunner, were captured after crossing the border and continuing the shelling.

On May 23, a Ukrainian court sentenced 21-year-old Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin to life in prison for killing an unarmed civilian just four days into the war.

Kyiv has accused Russia of atrocities against civilians, including the rape of men, women and children, during the invasion and said it has identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova told a news conference in The Hague Tuesday that her office so far has identified more than 600 Russian suspects and has started prosecuting about 80 of them.

Russia has denied targeting civilians or involvement in war crimes.

With Post wires