Ukrainian Justice System convicts two Russian soldiers for bombing civilians.

Ukrainian Justice System convicts two Russian soldiers for bombing civilians.
Photo of Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov by Just Click's With A Camera on flickr.com

01-06-2022

Grace ATALUI MOKANGO

International Justice and Human Rights Researcher 

Global Human Rights Defence

Ukrainian justice has just pronounced on 31 May 2022 its second conviction for war crimes in the context of the ongoing Russian military invasion. On 26 May, two Russian soldiers, Alexander Bobikin and Alexander Ivanov pleaded guilty in a new trial for war crimes committed in Ukraine. They were tried for bombing civilians in eastern Ukraine. 

The Judge Evhen Bolybok stated that " the guilt of Bobikin and Ivanov has been proven in full," they are thus sentenced to eleven and a half years in jail. It should be noted that the prosecutors had requested twelve years in prison. However, the defence had suggested eight years because both defendants had pleaded guilty and expressed remorse, but they had followed orders from the hierarchy above all. Subsequently, Bobikin and Ivanov acknowledged that the sentence of the Ukrainian Court was fair.

Reuters reported that Kyiv has accused Russia of atrocities and brutality against civilians during the invasion and said it had identified more than 10,000 possible war crimes. Russia has denied targeting civilians or involvement in war crimes. At the same time, it carries out what it calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

Source and further reading

Pavel Polityuk, Ukraine jails two russian Soldiers for 11-½ years for shelling civilians, News Reuters, ( 31 May 2022), from: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukrainian-court-sentences-two-russian-soldiers-jail-war-crimes-2022-05-31/