An Italian court has sentenced Ukrainian soldier Vitaliy Markiv to 24 years in prison for involvement in the 2014 death of Italian freelance photographer Andrea Rocchelli during Russia’s war in Donbas.
Rocchelli was killed in May 2014 on the outskirts of the city of Sloviansk together with his interpreter, Russian human rights activists Andrey Mironov, during an exchange of fire between the two sides. Markiv denies that he is guilty. Markiv’s lawyer claim that the national guardsmen did not have any heavy weapons and, thus, could not be involved in the deaths of Rocchelli and Mironov.
