In Germany, two Russians were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of two Ukrainian women and the abduction of a child.

A court in Mannheim, Germany, has sentenced a married couple to life imprisonment for the murder of a Ukrainian woman and her mother, as well as for the abduction of a child.

According to a court representative, a special burden of guilt was established, which will prevent the couple from being released on parole after 15 years. Thus, the court fulfilled the prosecutor's request, as reported by the AFP agency, referenced by Deutsche Welle.

The verdict can still be appealed, the dpa agency clarified. All parties, including the defense, insisted on a life sentence.

At the beginning of the trial in early January, the defendants admitted to committing the crimes in statements read by their lawyers. The couple expressed remorse.

The court concluded that the 45-year-old woman and her 43-year-old husband killed 51-year-old Ukrainian refugee Marina Stetsenko and her 27-year-old daughter Margarita to take her one-and-a-half-month-old baby. The motive for the crime, according to the investigation, was the couple's desire to have a child.

According to the tabloid BILD, one of the individuals is Russian and the other is German, while other media outlets report that the man is also Russian.

The girl, who is now about 11 months old, is living in Ukraine with an aunt who acted as a co-plaintiff in the case.

Commission of the Crime

The defendants decided to kill the 27-year-old woman and her mother a week after the birth of the child in February 2024, as stated in the indictment.

“To increase the chances of abducting the child, the woman joined a support group for Ukrainian refugees on Telegram, through which she contacted the 27-year-old victim in January 2024 while seeking a translator for her upcoming childbirth,” the prosecution noted.

Later, on March 6, 2024, during a visit to a restaurant, the couple secretly administered sedatives to both women. Then the criminals pretended that the 51-year-old woman, who felt unwell, was being taken to the hospital, while the 27-year-old Ukrainian and her newborn daughter were brought home.

Afterward, the man allegedly killed the 51-year-old mother, who lost consciousness, at a lake in Bad Schönborn, striking her on the head multiple times. After some time, he killed the 27-year-old woman in Hockenheim in the same manner and burned the corpse. The couple then returned home with the child.

The police arrested the married couple on March 13, 2024, after investigators discovered the child with the woman.

The body of 51-year-old Stetsenko was found on March 20, 2024, after a two-week search. Investigators located it on the shore of a lake near Hockenheim. The search operation commenced after police discovered the body of her daughter on March 7 in Hockenheim on the banks of the Rhine, showing signs of violent death, and it became known about the abduction of the newborn.

The mother, grandmother, and child had been living in a refugee accommodation center in the Rhein-Neckar district after moving to Germany from Ukraine to escape the war.

We previously covered the beginning of this story in the article “The German police suspect two Russians of murdering a Ukrainian woman and abducting her child.”

Furthermore, we remind you that in Germany, the murderer of a 9-year-old Ukrainian girl was sentenced to life. This case involves a citizen of Moldova, who was found guilty of murdering Ukrainian Valeria, the 9-year-old daughter of his former partner.