The Russian 1st Court of Appeal of General Jurisdiction sentenced Denis Rashplya, a serviceman of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, to life imprisonment. The press service of the court reported this; Mediazona drew attention to the verdict.
Denis Rashplya in court . Photo: Prosecutor General's Office of Russia
According to the press service, the military man is charged with the murder of 16 civilians and the attempted murder of nine more. He was found guilty of cruel treatment of the civilian population, killing several peoplebased on political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred, as well as attempted murder.
The 25-year-old driver of the 36th separate marine brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces was initially sentenced by a court in occupied Donetsk. The Supreme Court of the self-proclaimed DPR sentenced him to 22 years in a maximum security colony.
The Russian Prosecutor General's Office asserted that from February 28 to April 9, 2022, Rashplya, “executing the criminal orders of his commanders, shot 25 citizens with a machine gun” on the territory of the Azovmash plant in Mariupol. As a result, 16 people died, the rest survived, the department says.