KYIV – When Ukrainian National Guardsman Vitaliy Markiv was released from a maximum-security prison in Italy on November 3, it seemed that Ukraine also was vindicated of the false criminal charges of being an accessory to murder.
After spending three years, four months and two days in a Milan prison for his alleged role in killing an Italian photojournalist and his Russian interpreter in an eastern Ukrainian war zone, an appellate court ordered Mr. Markiv’s immediate release upon acquitting him of all charges.
At around 9:50 p.m. local time, the 31-year-old native of Ternopil Oblast regained his freedom, emerging with a Ukrainian flag draped over his shoulders and wearing a T-shirt bearing the Ukrainian trident symbol (tryzub) with the insignia of his 1st Battalion of the National Guard.