A 58-year-old Russian national has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Munich court for murdering two Ukrainian soldiers in Germany last year, German television news channel N-Tv reported on March 7.
The court ruled that the severity of the crime makes the man unlikely to qualify for early release.
The victims, aged 36 and 23, were being treated for war injuries in Murnau, Bavaria.
The Russian man admitted to the killings, which happened after an argument about the war broke out at a bar between him and the two soldiers.
Due to the argument, the Russian citizen felt "violated in his national pride," Deutsche Welle reported, citing the Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism of the Munich Public Prosecutor.
"Now, in a sober state, I deeply regret what happened," the 58-year-old suspect said at the start of his trial.
There have been multiple instances of crimes against Ukrainian citizens abroad since the start of the full-scale invasion began in 2022.
Two Ukrainian basketball players, aged 17 and 18, were killed in Germany on Feb. 2024 after being attacked with knives.
In another incident also in early 2024, a 15-year-old Ukrainian boy received severe head injuries and was taken to the hospital after his attacker allegedly made xenophobic remarks before the attack. The boy survived the attack.
Volodymyr Ivanyshyn
(Updated: )
