In Germany, the murderers of two Ukrainian basketball players have been sentenced. What was the court's verdict?

In Germany, the district court of Essen has sentenced four minors involved in the attack on two Ukrainian teenage basketball players, which took place in February 2024 in Oberhausen and resulted in the death of one Ukrainian citizen. Two of the offenders will serve eight and a half years in prison, while the other two will receive ten-year sentences.

This information was reported by RB24, citing the court's ruling. Since all four defendants are minors, they will serve their sentences in a juvenile correctional facility.

It is noted that there is relatively little information about the court session itself, as the proceedings were held behind closed doors due to the age of the defendants. One of the attackers, a 15-year-old boy, reportedly confessed to stabbing the Ukrainians, while the other three admitted to inflicting multiple blows on the deceased.

Recall that on February 12, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleg Nikolenko, announced that the German police had detained the attacker on the Ukrainian basketball players. The main suspect is well-known to the German police for several previous robbery cases.

On February 16, it became known that the Oberhausen police arrested three more young men following the murder of the 17-year-old Ukrainian basketball player. The young athlete Vladimir Yermakov died in the hospital from a knife wound sustained during the altercation.

Yermakov and his friend Artem Kozachenko played for the youth team "ART Giants" (U-19) from Düsseldorf. Ahead of their next match, the young basketball players were attacked with knives on the street.