Ukraine sentences Russian soldier to life in prison for executing captured Ukrainian serviceman
A court in Ukraine has sentenced a Russian soldier to life imprisonment for executing a captured Ukrainian serviceman in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on Nov. 6.
This is the first life sentence in Ukraine’s history handed down to a Russian serviceman for executing a prisoner of war, SBU said.
According to the statement, the convict, 27-year-old Russian national Dmitry Kurashov, shot a Ukrainian soldier at point-blank range after he surrendered near the village of Pryiutne on Jan. 6, 2024.
Kurashov served as a rifleman in the Russian "Storm-V" assault unit of the 127th Motorized Rifle Division. Before joining the army, he had multiple criminal convictions in Russia and signed a contract with the Defense Ministry in November 2023 in exchange for amnesty.
Investigators established that during an assault on Ukrainian positions, a Ukrainian soldier who had run out of ammunition dropped his weapon and raised his hands, signaling surrender. Kurashov ordered him to kneel and then opened fire with a Kalashnikov rifle, killing him on the spot.
Ukrainian forces later recaptured the position and captured Kurashov along with four other Russian soldiers, the only survivors of the assault.
The court found Kurashov guilty under Part 2 of Article 438 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code — violations of the laws and customs of war. The case was investigated under the procedural supervision of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor’s Office.
Ukraine has documented widespread violations of the Geneva Conventions by Russian forces, including the execution of 322 сaptured Ukrainian soldiers as of October 2025.
According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, most of those cases, 263, occurred on the battlefield, while others were linked to the 2022 Olenivka prison explosion in occupied Donetsk Oblast.
Ukrainian officials and human rights groups have repeatedly reported torture, abuse, and inhumane treatment of Ukrainian POWs held in Russian captivity.
As of September 2025, over 2,500 Ukrainian soldiers remain imprisoned in Russia, their fate often unknown.
Francis Farrell
