A Russian court has sentenced a Ukrainian commander to life in prison for a missile attack.

A Russian court has sentenced the commander of a Ukrainian armed forces unit, Yuri Yatskevich, to life in prison without trial. The Investigative Committee of Russia confirmed this verdict through its press service. Officials state that Yatskevich is guilty of terrorism causing death and remains wanted internationally.

The investigation found that in July 2024, Yatskevich ordered a missile strike on the Kavkaz port area in Temryuksky District, Krasnodar Krai. Subordinates fired Neptune cruise missiles at civilian targets. The attack hit port workers and sailors aboard two non-military ships. One person died and five others suffered injuries. Two vessels sustained damage along with several port structures. The total loss exceeded 33.5 million rubles.

Earlier reports linked the commander to an assault on Orsk in 2025. Documents indicate that in December of that year, he directed an attack against civilian sites in the Oryol region using a Neptune complex. The strike damaged the Oryol Thermal Power Plant. This incident cut off electricity and heat for roughly 20,000 residents of the area.

This ruling follows another case where a court handed down a life sentence to an alleged organizer of an assassination attempt on a deputy governor of Kherson Oblast. Russian authorities emphasize that these orders came from within their own military chain of command.