A regional court in Essen, Germany, has sentenced four teenagers for the murder of Ukrainian basketball players Volodymyr Yermakov and Artem Kozachenko.
The court found the teenagers, aged 14 to 16 at the start of the trial, guilty of attacking the two Ukrainians with knives and clubs, leading to their deaths.
However, the court did not identify xenophobia as a motive for the crime. It stated that the defendants acted with the awareness that they “did not need a reason to kill someone.” This contrasts with earlier suspicions by the prosecution that the attack may have been motivated by the victims’ Ukrainian origin.
Two of the assailants received sentences of 10 years, while the other two were sentenced to up to 8.5 years. The convicted teenagers apologized to the victims’ parents during the trial.
The sentences are not yet final, as defense lawyers have announced plans to appeal the verdicts.
The attack occurred on the evening of February 10. Yermakov and Kozachenko were traveling to Düsseldorf when they encountered the four accused on a bus. After all parties exited the bus at Oberhausen’s main station, one of the defendants immediately stabbed both Ukrainians.
Seventeen-year-old Volodymyr Yermakov died that evening during emergency surgery. His teammate, 18-year-old Artem Kozachenko, succumbed ten days later to septic multiple organ failure.
