**Teenagers Sentenced for Murder of Ukrainian Basketball Players**
A court in the German city of Essen has sentenced four teenagers to prison for the murder of two Ukrainian basketball players. The victims, Volodymyr Yermakov and Artem Kozachenko, were attacked with knives in February.
**Attack and Aftermath**
The attack happened in Oberhausen, Germany. Yermakov died on the same day, while Kozachenko passed away 10 days later due to his injuries. The perpetrators were between 14 and 15 years old at the time of the attack. They included two Syrian citizens and two German citizens, with one of the Germans also holding Greek citizenship.
**Juvenile Court Proceedings**
The case was held in a juvenile court behind closed doors because of the perpetrators’ age. Prosecutors initially thought the victims were attacked because they were Ukrainian, but the court couldn’t find evidence to support this claim. Instead, it was found that the perpetrators were “looking for trouble” and provoked a conflict with Yermakov and Kozachenko.
**Verdict and Appeal**
Two of the perpetrators will serve 10 years in a youth detention center, while the other two will serve eight and a half years. The defense plans to appeal the verdict. The victims had fled to Germany in 2023 due to Russia’s war in Ukraine and were playing for the ART Giants basketball team in Dusseldorf.
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