The soldier is the first to be jailed for such a crime after being found guilty of shooting dead a Ukrainian soldier who had surrendered in Zaporizhzhia region.

It's shame the piece is accompanied by a shot of the guy grinning at the cameras as if he is participating in a photo-op, as it kind of undermines the seriousness of the crime and calls into question his sanity.

But what the Guardian failed to mention is the life sentence is not in fact a 'landmark sentence' for shooting a POW.

Remember the case of British Marine A who murdered a Taliban POW in Afghanistan?

He was originally sentenced to life but served just 3 years for his crime.

So let's hope this 'landmark' applies to everyone who kills POWs, not just Russians, but also Afghans, Americans, Brits, Chechens, Hamas, Israelis, Sudanese, Ukrainians and many others.

But who are we kidding - it won't.

How can it be in a world where you now get points for killing people - presumably so you can 'level-up' and win a dishwasher.

[https://fnn.vizimail.com/app/article.php?id=2f72471162b6215354c5c3b67fb8626e]

Killing POWs is an established fact of life in war and always has been - Geneva Conventions notwithstanding.

For a detailed account of Marine A's war crime see GQ magazine:

[https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/politics/article/marine-a]

What this sad story clearly shows is how brutal wars can warp mens' minds, especially if they are trained in 'elite' units, as the Australian SAS clearly demonstrated (see the Brereton Report) and:

[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2025/08/21/australian-sas-soldier-becomes-face-war-crimes-trial/]

The reality is that this Russian soldier will probably be swapped for a similar Ukrainian case but it makes a good headline, right?