Captured Russian soldier gets life sentence for killing civilians near Kupiansk (photos)
Photo: Russian soldier sentenced to life for shooting civilians (Getty Images)
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has announced the life imprisonment of 21-year-old Russian soldier Artem Kulikov, who shot and killed two civilians in the Kupiansk district of the Kharkiv region, the SBU press service reports.
Based on the SBU’s evidence, another Russian soldier who committed war crimes against Ukraine’s civilian population has received a life sentence. The suspect shot two residents of the Kharkiv region who were in a frontline area.
In October 2024, Ukraine’s Defense Forces captured him during fighting in the Kupiansk sector.
According to the SBU, the case concerns 21-year-old Russian repeat offender Artem Kulikov, who served as a rifleman in the 23rd Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 6th Combined Arms Army of Russia.
He was mobilized into the armed forces of the aggressor state in late August 2024 directly from a Nizhny Novgorod prison, where he was serving a sentence for robbery and theft.
After a short training in a military camp, he was sent to the eastern front to attack Ukrainian positions in the border areas of the Kharkiv region.
During an attempt to capture one of the villages in the Kupiansk district, Kulikov and an accomplice detained two local residents who were helping a fellow villager evacuate from the combat zone.
According to the investigation, Russians tried to find out from the victims information about the locations of Ukraine’s Defense Forces. Not getting any, Kulikov shot both men point-blank with his rifle. As a result of the gunfire, both victims died on the spot.
During interrogation, a Russian soldier gave incriminating testimony against his commanders, who issued orders to kill civilians in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.
Based on the evidence collected by the Security Service, the panel of judges found Kulikov guilty.
Earlier this year, a Russian serviceman was to stand trial for shooting residents of Irpin who were trying to evacuate.
Shortly before that, RBC-Ukraine reported that prosecutors of the Kyiv Regional Prosecutor’s Office had sent to court an indictment against a Russian serviceman who, during the occupation of the Bucha district, tortured residents and staged mock executions.
