Russian general who wanted to take Kyiv in three days sentenced to life imprisonment - Prosecutor General
Kyiv • UNN
Russian General Alexander Lapin has been sentenced to life imprisonment in absentia. He led the offensive on the Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions in 2022.
A Russian general who wanted to take Kyiv in three days has been sentenced to life imprisonment, Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko announced on social media on Tuesday, UNN reports.
One of the Russian generals who led the attempted seizure of Kyiv, Chernihiv, and Sumy regions in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion has been sentenced to life imprisonment. This refers to Alexander Lapin, a Colonel General of the Russian Armed Forces and former commander of the Central Military District of the Russian Federation,
It was this general who headed the Russian military grouping "Center" and directed the offensive from the territory of Belarus and the Russian Federation toward the Sumy, Chernihiv, and Kyiv regions and the capital of Ukraine, Kyiv, the Prosecutor General pointed out.
"The court found him guilty of encroaching on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine, as well as of planning, preparing, initiating, and conducting an aggressive war," he added.
According to Kravchenko, "prosecutors proved: in February-March 2022, this general was not just a formal commander 'on paper'." "He directly organized the invasion, planned and coordinated the actions of subordinate units, issued orders, and ensured the continuation of hostilities against Ukraine," he noted.
"It was under his command that Russian troops occupied settlements in the Chernihiv and Sumy regions and advanced toward Kyiv along the left bank of the Dnipro. Their goal was to seize the Ukrainian capital, state authorities, military command, and establish occupational control. For this, he received a just sentence – life imprisonment," Kravchenko stated.
According to him, "since the war criminal is currently hiding in the Russian Federation, the sentence was passed in absentia." The term of punishment will begin from the moment of his actual detention. And I believe that this will happen.
"This decision is further confirmation: Ukrainian justice identifies not only the perpetrators but also those who planned, organized, and gave the criminal orders," Kravchenko emphasized.
The crime, according to him, was solved thanks to the joint work of the Prosecutor General's Office and investigators of the Security Service of Ukraine.
"Every Russian commander who came to our land with war must realize that position, rank, or being in Russia does not guarantee impunity. Responsibility for the aggression against Ukraine is inevitable. We continue our work," Kravchenko stressed.