Russian court convicts soldiers of murdering nine Ukrainians

A court in southern Russia has sentenced two Russian soldiers to life imprisonment around a year after the murder of nine Ukrainian civilians, including two children.

Investigators said the two defendants entered a house in the city of Volnovakha, which is in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine and is occupied by Russian troops. They then shot and killed a family of three generations with their silenced weapons.

The defendants deny the crime and have announced their intention to appeal against the judgement, the Russian state news agency Tass reported on Friday.

Initially, the motive was said to be an attempt to obtain vodka, which is prohibited to troops on active service. However, the judgment states that the perpetrators committed the murder out of "political, ideological, racist, national or religious hatred".

The trial took place behind closed doors.

Kiev has repeatedly accused Russian troops of committing serious crimes in the war zone. Moscow generally denies such offences have taken place, and the Russian parliament has even passed a law that makes it a criminal offence to "defame" the Russian army.

Public reports of such judgments – especially with such a justification that confirms Ukrainian accusations – are considered to be relatively rare.