A Russian soldier convicted of executing a captured Ukrainian serviceman has been handed a life sentence, the first time Ukraine has imprisoned a person on such charges.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor-General’s Office and Security Service stated on November 6 that a court in Zaporizhzhya sentenced Dmitry Kurashov, 27, to life in prison for the crime.
The court found Kurashov, a rifleman in the Storm-V assault unit of Russia’s 127th Motorized Rifle Division composed of convicts who signed up to fight for the Kremlin in Ukraine in exchange for their release from prison back home, shot and killed unarmed Ukrainian serviceman Vitaliy Hodnyuk at point-blank range.
According to the court, Hodnyuk emerged unarmed from a dugout and, following orders to put his hands up and kneel, Kurashov opened fire with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.
Defendant Was A Convicted Thief
Kurashov, who was previously convicted in Russia for theft, joined the Russian armed forces in November 2023 in exchange for amnesty and was deployed to the Zaporizhzhya front.
After the incident, Ukrainian forces launched a counterattack, recapturing their positions and took Kurashov and four of his fellow Russian soldiers prisoners, some of whom testified against him at the trial. Kurashov lost an eye in the battle.
During the trial, Kurashov initially admitted guilt but later sought to retract his confession, claiming another soldier was responsible. However, the court weighed testimonies from fellow prisoners and the evidence and found the defendant guilty.
The sentencing was pronounced as authorities continue to document other violations of international law, including the confirmed execution of over 320 Ukrainian POWs since Russia started its ongoing invasion in February 2022.
A UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission (HRMMU) reportin February accused Russian authorities of subjecting Ukrainian POWs to “systematic and widespread torture.”
It also said it had verified the executions of 71 Ukrainian POWs since February 2022. The HRMMU said it also recorded “an alarming spike in executions since August 2024 with at least 79 executions assessed as credible in 24 separate incidents.”
Moscow denies its military has committed atrocities in Ukraine, despite the mounting evidence.
