In A 'Historic' First, Ukraine Extradites Russian Soldier To Lithuania To Face Trial For War Crimes

Last Updated:October 31, 2025, 19:06 IST

Ukrainian officials said the extradited man was a sailor who had served in the Russian military police and was involved in the illegal detention and torture of prisoners.

Ukraine is determined to hold Russian military figures personally responsible for the 2022 invasion. (Reuters/Representative Image)

In what is being called a “historic" step for the first time, Ukraine on Friday extradited a captured Russian soldier to Lithuania, where he will be put on trial for alleged war crimes.

“For the first time since the start of full-scale aggression, Ukraine has handed over a Russian serviceman to a foreign state, Lithuania, for real criminal prosecution for war crimes," said Ukraine’s prosecutor general Ruslan Kravchenko on Telegram.

Ukrainian officials said the extradited man was a sailor who had served in the Russian military police. He was captured by the Ukrainian army in the Zaporizhzhia region near the southern village of Robotyne, AFP reported.

Kravchenko said the Russian soldier was “involved in the illegal detention, torture, and inhumane treatment of civilians and prisoners of war" and one of his victims was a Lithuanian citizen.

Lithuania was pressing war crimes charges against the man who could face life imprisonment in the Baltic state, a NATO member and Ukraine’s staunch ally. Kravchenko called the extradition “a historic and important precedent for the entire international justice system."

‘Illegal Detention, Torture Of Prisoners’

Meanwhile, the Lithuanian prosecutor general’s office said the man is suspected of having “not only guarded the illegally detained civilians and prisoners of war, but also participated in their beating and torture."

It alleged the torture involved “imprisoning the victims in a metal safe, suffocating them until unconsciousness, hanging them with tied hands, pouring cold water on them in freezing weather, and traumatising with electric shocks."

Lithuania’s law enforcement coordinated with Kyiv on the man’s extradition. A court in Vilnius ruled to keep the man in jail for at least three months ahead of a trial, as per the prosecutor general’s office.

Ukraine is determined to hold Russian military figures personally responsible for the 2022 invasion and is seeking international justice for numerous alleged atrocities committed by the Russian army.

The Ukraine conflict is now set to enter its fourth year amid US-led efforts to halt it. US President Donald Trump has openly expressed his frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin and has squeezed pressure on Russian energy exports as part of its plan to halt Moscow’s offensive.

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s security services on Friday said Kyiv has launched nearly 160 successful strikes on Russian oil sites this year and vowed further long-range attacks aimed at denting Russia’s war chest. A day before, Russia attacked Ukrainian energy facilities with hundreds of drones and missiles, killing at least four people.

(with inputs from AFP)

News world In A 'Historic' First, Ukraine Extradites Russian Soldier To Lithuania To Face Trial For War Crimes

Read More