Russian soldier sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking woman hostage in Kupiansk
A Russian prisoner of war has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for taking a local woman hostage and threatening to kill her and another woman during Russia's renewed offensive on the town of Kupiansk in Kharkiv Oblast in September 2025.
Source: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office; Ukrainska Pravda sources
Quote: "Ten years of imprisonment – that is the sentence handed down by the court following the public prosecution brought by the Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office against a 54-year-old Russian serviceman. He was found guilty of ill-treatment of the civilian population, as well as another violation of the laws and customs of war (Article 438.1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine)."
Details: According to Ukrainska Pravda sources, the serviceman is Russian national Aleksandr Erzin, 54.
The Prosecutor's Office said that at the time of Russia's renewed attempt to capture Kupiansk, Erzin was a rifleman with the 121st Motorised Rifle Regiment of the 68th Motorised Rifle Division of the Russian Armed Forces' 6th Army.
The investigation established that the Russian soldier entered a local police station building and set up a firing position on the third floor.
After seeing two local women in the street, the serviceman forced one of them to come upstairs at gunpoint. He initially questioned the woman about her personal details and why she was in the vicinity of the police station, then ordered the other woman to bring him food, threatening to kill the hostage.
While the Russian soldier held one woman under armed guard, the other went home to get food and brought it to the police station.
The serviceman then questioned the women again, learned their addresses, and ordered them to bring him more food in a week's time. He threatened to come to their homes and kill them if they refused.
On the appointed day, the women returned to the police station with some food, but by then the Russian soldier had been captured by Ukrainian troops.
Background: Russian serviceman Sergei Karpilovich is standing trial in person in Ukraine on charges of raping a Ukrainian woman while she was living under Russian occupation.
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