Russian Soldier Sentenced to 10 Years for War Crimes in Mykolaiv

In Mykolaiv region, a Russian soldier was convicted of violating the laws of war by ill-treating civilians. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and the victim was awarded half a million hryvnias in non-pecuniary damage.

This was reported by Court Reporter with reference to the court verdict.

The Snihuriv District Court of Mykolaiv Region found Konstantin Makov, a soldier of the 108th Air Assault Regiment of the 7th Air Assault Division of the Russian Armed Forces, guilty of violating the laws of war.

On March 18-19, 2022, Russian troops seized the village of Novopetrivka, Mykolaiv region, but the next day the Ukrainian military expelled them from the village. On March 21, the Russians returned and went to the house of the village headman.

According to the victim, that morning they heard knocks on the door, and four soldiers approached their house. One of them, she later learned, was Makov. He threatened the starosta's husband, saying that he would shoot him because he did not like him. Makov, standing at a distance of 2-3 meters, opened fire with an assault rifle, shooting at the feet of the starosta and his husband. He also said that he knew who was the elder in the village. The occupants gave the starosta four days to find and return the weapons they had left in the village.

On the same day, the starosta's husband was detained, tortured and killed. According to the information provided during the pre-trial investigation, he tried to collect weapons in the village and bring them to the Russians, but was not released. After the occupiers retreated, the man's body was found in a forest plantation at the former positions of Russian troops, at the bottom of a ditch. But Makov was not charged with murder.

According to the investigation, the murder of the starosta's husband was carried out by other soldiers of his unit, Araltan Mandzhiyev and Viktor Klimenko.

Makov was sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison for the cruel treatment of civilians. The court also ordered him to pay 500 thousand hryvnias in non-pecuniary damage to the victim and her elderly father.

Law enforcement officers identified another Russian serviceman involved in the abuse of a resident of the Snihuriv community during the occupation. In May 2022, he and other occupiers kidnapped a 52-year-old local woman to find out which of the men in the community served in the Armed Forces. He now faces up to 12 years in prison.

Last year in Mykolaiv, investigators completed an investigation into a Russian commander who tortured civilians. He illegally detained four residents, using physical and psychological violence against them.

Анна Бальчінос