21-year-old Russian prisoner of war Artem Kulikov, who shot two civilians in the Kharkiv region, was sentenced to life imprisonment.

This was reported by the press service of the SBU, Censor.NET reports .

In October 2024, the Ukrainian Defense Forces captured him during fighting in the Kupyansk direction.

21-year-old Kulikov fought as a rifleman in the 23rd Motorized Rifle Brigade of the 6th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Federation.

“He mobilized into the ranks of the armed forces of the aggressor country at the end of August 2024 directly from the Nizhny Novgorod prison, where he was serving a sentence for robbery and theft.  After a short training at the training center, he was sent to the eastern front to attack the positions of Ukrainian troops in the border areas of the Kharkiv region,” the report says.

During attempts to occupy one of the villages of the Kupyansky district, Kulikov, together with an accomplice, imprisoned two local residents who were helping a fellow villager evacuate from the combat zone.

The racists tried to “knock out” information from the victims about the locations of the Defense Forces.

“Without receiving information, Kulikov shot two men at point-blank range with his machine gun. As a result of the gunfire, both victims died on the spot.  During interrogation, the racist gave incriminating testimony against his commanders, who gave orders to kill civilians in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine,” the SBU noted.

The panel of judges found Kulikov guilty under Part 2 of Article 28, Part 2 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (war crimes committed by a group of persons in a prior conspiracy). Джерело: https://censor.net/ua/n3568631

(c)CENSOR.NET 2025