Ukrainian courts hand down more than 40 sentences to Russian war criminals in a year: one of them in Mykolaiv region

Between 1 January and 23 December 2024, Ukrainian courts handed down 41 verdicts under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine: violation of the laws and customs of war. In particular, one of the verdicts was handed down by a court in Mykolaiv region.

This is stated in the analytics of the Media Initiative for Human Rights.

Currently, Article 438 of the Criminal Code is the main article under which war crimes cases are considered in Ukraine. It provides for criminal liability, in particular, for ill-treatment of prisoners of war or civilians, looting of national property in the occupied territories and the use of means of warfare prohibited by international law.

Infographic: Media Initiative for Human Rights

Infographic: Media Initiative for Human Rights

It is noted that 40 of these sentences were passed in absentia, meaning that the cases were considered without the defendants being present in the dock. Last year, Ukraine convicted 66 people for war crimes, 60 of whom were Russian citizens and 6 were Ukrainian citizens.

The highest number of sentences was passed by the courts of Chernihiv region, where 14 sentences were handed down over the year. The lowest number was in Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions.

Eight verdicts were appealed in the courts of appeal, but remained unchanged.

As a reminder, in November 2024, a court in Mykolaiv acquitted 54-year-old Svitlana Ohol, accused of high treason. She was suspected of passing information about Ukrainian servicemen to Russian troops. This was the first acquittal under the article on treason since the beginning of the full-scale war.