A Russian military court sentenced two soldiers to life in prison for murdering a family of nine in occupied Donetsk Oblast, the Russian state-controlled news outlet Kommersant reported on Nov. 8.
The Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office reported on Oct. 30 that Russian forces in occupied Volnovakha entered a home and murdered nine civilians, including two children aged five and nine. The victims were identified as the Kapkanets family, who were reportedly celebrating a birthday.
The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don handed down life sentences to both soldiers, Anton Sopov, 21, and Stanislav Rau, 28. The case marks a rare instance of Russian authorities holding its own troops accountable for war crimes perpetrated in Ukraine.
The trial was held in secret due to military secrecy, and both men pleaded not guilty, Kommersant claimed.
Sopov and Rau were arrested in Russia on the same day Ukraine released its report of the killings. The Russian Investigative Committee identified the two soldiers as contract personnel from Russia's far east.
According to Ukraine's investigation, the family was murdered after refusing to vacate their home after being threatened by Sopov and Rau.
Russian soldiers reportedly approached the Kapkanets home several days before the murders and demanded that the family leave so that they could reside there. The residents refused and the soldiers left.
They returned on Oct. 27, the Prosecutor's Office said, and shot all nine members of the family while they slept.
Russia has repeatedly denied that its forces commit crimes in Ukraine.
Ukraine has accused Russian forces of 137,000 war crimes carried out as part of its full-scale invasion. Crimes include the mass abduction of Ukrainian children, the torture of residents in occupied territories, and the murder of civilians.
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