Ukraine jails Russian soldier for life over execution of captured Ukrainian troops
In Ukraine, a Russian soldier has been sentenced to life in prison. (Photo: SBU)
A Russian serviceman who executed a captured Ukrainian
soldier near Vovchansk has been sentenced to life in prison in Ukraine, the
country’s SBU Security Service reported
on Jan. 13.
The convicted man is 36-year-old Russian national Sergey
Tuzhylov, call sign Altai, who served as a rifleman-assault trooper in the 69th
Motorized Rifle Division of Russia’s Leningrad Military District. Before being
mobilized, Tuzhylov had twice served prison terms in Russia for drug offenses
and armed robbery.
According to investigators, Tuzhylov took part in combat
near Vovchansk in June 2024. During an assault on a local factory, he and an
accomplice executed three captured Ukrainian servicemen. Investigators say
Tuzhylov personally shot one of the POWs in the back of the head using his
service rifle while the soldier’s hands were tied.
The Russian soldier also selected the execution site for the
other two POWs and stood guard during the killings. Before the executions,
Ukrainian prisoners were reportedly tied to poles and tortured by Russian
troops. The occupiers communicated the results of the torture to their
commanders over radio and sought approval for the executions, the SBU said.
Several weeks later, Ukraine’s Defense Forces destroyed
Tuzhylov’s unit. He was the only survivor and was taken prisoner.
A Ukrainian court found Tuzhylov guilty of grave crimes,
including participation in the abuse and deliberate killing of a Ukrainian POW,
and of committing war crimes as part of a group acting in prior conspiracy.
This is the second such sentence in Ukraine’s history. On Nov. 6, 2025, another Russian soldier, 27-year-old Dmitry Kurashov, was sentenced to life in prison for executing a captured Ukrainian serviceman in the Zaporizhzhya sector. Kurashov, who had previously served time in Russia for theft, became the first Russian occupier to receive a life sentence in Ukraine specifically for executing a member of the country’s Defense Forces.
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