Russian Marine Given Life Sentence In Kiev

• 20.02.2026, 21:11

For shooting prisoners.

A court in Kiev has sentenced Russian Marine Vladimir Ivanov, found guilty of killing two prisoners of war, to life imprisonment. Such a punishment was insisted on by the prosecution, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said in his Telegram channel on Friday, February 20.

The court found that in January 2025, Ivanov and other Russian military officers ambushed Ivanov during fighting in the Kursk region. Two Ukrainian soldiers laid down their weapons and raised their hands to surrender, but Ivanov opened fire on them. At the court hearing, witnesses - Ivanov's fellow soldiers - said that he acted on the commander's order.

"The court found: there was no military necessity to use force, and the convict was aware of the criminality of the order and could refuse to obey it," Kravchenko wrote.

Vladimir Ivanov's actions were qualified under the article "violation of the laws and customs of war, committed by a group of persons, resulting in the death of persons under the protection of international humanitarian law." The court also partially satisfied the civil claim: Ivanov is obliged to pay 50 million hryvnias (almost 982 thousand euros) in compensation to the ex-wife of one of the victims, notes "Suspilne".

The defendant himself said he repented of the crime.