Russian general who led assault on Kyiv sentenced to life in prison
Russian Army General Alexander Lapin (photo: Russian media)
Russian Army General Alexander Lapin, who led the offensive against Kyiv during the first weeks of the full-scale war, has been sentenced to life imprisonment. The court found him guilty of crimes against Ukraine, according to Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko.
What the court decided
Colonel General of the Russian Armed Forces Alexander Lapin, former commander of Russia's Central Military District, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
According to the investigation, he headed the Russian military grouping "Center" and commanded the offensive from the territory of Russia and Belarus against:
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Sumy region;
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Chernihiv region;
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Kyiv region;
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The capital of Ukraine.
The court found him guilty of:
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Encroaching on Ukraine's territorial integrity and inviolability;
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Planning and preparing an aggressive war;
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Launching and waging an aggressive war.
What role Lapin played
Prosecutors established that in February-March 2022, Alexander Lapin did not merely formally hold the position of commander.
According to the case materials, he organized the invasion, coordinated the actions of subordinate units, issued orders, and ensured the continuation of combat operations against Ukraine.
Under his command, Russian troops occupied settlements in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions and advanced toward Kyiv along the left bank of the Dnipro River.
The goal of the offensive was to seize the capital and government institutions and establish control over the territory.
Alexander Lapin is currently in Russia. Therefore, the verdict was issued in absentia.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) recently announced charges against another military commander — Alexander Chaiko, the former commander of the Russian army's Eastern Military District. During the battle for Kyiv, he ordered attacks on civilian residential buildings.
General Oleg Makarevich, who ordered the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant (a major dam and power generation facility in southern Ukraine), recently headed a rotating advisory mission in Venezuela. More than 120 Russian military personnel are training Venezuelan troops there.
