In Germany, murderer of 9-year-old Ukrainian Valeria sentenced to life imprisonment

A court in Germany sentenced a German citizen, who was found guilty of the murder of 9-year-old Ukrainian refugee Valeria, to life imprisonment.

This is reported by Tagesspiegel.

The convicted person is a 37-year-old Moldovan citizen who had previously dated with the girl's mother.

The court recognized the crime as particularly serious, so the convicted person will be able to appeal for early release only after 15 years in prison.

The girl's father, who serves in the Ukrainian army, was present at the hearing. He was allowed to travel to Germany for the trial, where he was a co-plaintiff.

What is known about Valeria's murder

Nine-year-old Valeria disappeared on June 3, 2024 - she left home to go to school by bus, but never showed up at school. The school thought that the child had simply skipped class and the mother had not been called. Therefore, the mother raised the alarm only in the evening of the same day. She notified the police, and the search began.

After a week of searching, a body was found in the forest three kilometers from the house where the mother and child lived. Later, German police confirmed that this was the body of the missing girl.

Law enforcement officers suspected two men: ex-boyfriend of mother Nadiya (Moldovan citizen Andriy), as well as an acquaintance of the mother who had been stalking Nadiya for some time (50-year-old Ukrainian Hennadii). Later, it turned out that Hennadii had an alibi for the time of the murder. Andriy, who was convicted of murder, threatened Nadiya to "hurt her" if she left him.

The girl and her mother had lived in Germany since 2022. Valeria's father serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was given a leave of absence, so he was present at the court hearing.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, German police confirmed that the body found in a forest near the city of Döbeln in Saxony belongs to the missing 9-year-old Ukrainian girl Valeria.

The girl's disappearance became known on June 3, when the girl did not return from school, where she had gone in the morning. The girl was supposed to take a city bus, but whether this happened is unknown. The child did not reach school, but the teachers did not inform her mother about it in time.