Sotnikov competed at the 2008 Olympic Games, where he was knocked out after one match.

[2] Sotnikov was sentenced to 15 years for murder in 2009 for shooting an 18-year-old in the head for refusing to drink alcohol with him.

[3][4] Sotnikov was killed on 6 August 2021, alongside two other prisoners, while serving his jail term.

[3][5] According to Trilateral Contact Group member Haide Rizayeva Sotnikov was killed in a penal colony of the self-proclaimed Ukrainian breakaway state Donetsk People's Republic.

This biographical article related to Ukrainian judo is a stub.