Ukraine says it has identified thousands of war crimes committed by Russian troops during the war. Ivanov refused to give a final statement at the trial, while Bobykin offered his apologies and expressed hope that the war will end soon.
Lawyers for the two soldiers asked the Kotelva district court to sentence their clients to eight years in prison each, citing the two soldiers' repentance and the fact that they were following the orders of their commanders. They admitted to firing the rockets but said they had no idea what the targets were as they were given coordinates to program into the launch. The two were captured by the Ukrainian military the same day. Soldiers Aleksandr Ivanov and Aleksandr Bobykin were convicted of shelling and destroying several residential buildings in the town of Kozacha Lopan and a school in the town of Veterinarne in the eastern Kharkiv region with a Grad multiple rocket launcher on February 24, the day Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
A court in Ukraine's northeastern town of Kotelva has sentenced two Russian soldiers to 11.5 years in prison each after finding them guilty of violating the rules of war.
