Alleged Russian soldiers go on trial in Ukraine

Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev went on trial at the Holosiiv District Court on September 29. The pair deny charges of terrorism. Prosecutors called for life sentences and the hearing was adjourned. In a video published in May, Aleksandrov and Yerofeyev said they were on active duty with the Russian military in eastern Ukraine when they were captured on May 16. Moscow says Yerofeyev and Aleksandrov were no longer employed by the state when they were captured. Russia still denies accusations by Kyiv and the West that it is providing weapons, training, and personnel to pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine who are involved in a conflict that has killed nearly 8,000 people since April of last year. The September 29 hearing coincided with the resumption of a trial in Russia, where Ukrainian pilot Nadia Savchenko is accused of involvement in the deaths of two Russian journalists in Ukraine's east.