Ajit Karn
Moscow: According to Russian investigators, three Ukrainian soldiers, including a human rights activist, have been sentenced to extensive prison terms in Russian-controlled regions of Ukraine for purportedly mistreating civilians.
“The supreme tribunals of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics handed down sentences in three criminal cases against Ukrainian citizens Viktor Pokhozey, Maksym Butkevych, and Vladislav Shel,” the Investigative Committee of Russia said in a statement.
Moscow proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk regions in eastern Ukraine to be part of Russia in 2014, following contested referendums condemned by Kiev and the West.
“They were all judged culpable of mistreating civilians and using prohibited methods (of combat) during armed conflict,” the statement continued.
Butkevych, a Ukrainian rights activist and co-founder of the independent radio station Hromadske, and Shel were both found guilty of attempted assassination.
Butkevych enlisted in the Ukrainian military in March, not long after President Vladimir Putin dispatched troops to Ukraine.
According to investigators, Butkevych injured two civilians when he “launched an anti-tank grenade launcher” at the entrance of a residential building in Severodonetsk, a city under Russian control in the region of Lugansk.
He was given a prison term of 13 years, while Shel was sentenced to 18 years and six months.
According to investigators, Shel shot at a man to “intimidate civilians” in Mariupol, the port city in southern Ukraine that fell into Russian hands following a weeks-long siege.
Also read: “Victory For Dialogue, Peace”: China On Saudi, Iran Restoring Relations
Pokhozey, the commander of the Azov battalion that defended the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, was sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for purportedly assaulting a woman in Mariupol.
According to investigators, they will serve their sentences in a penal colony with a stringent regime.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the verdicts as “illegal and null,” calling on the international community to “condemn” the proceedings and “demand” the release of the soldiers.
“The sham tribunal, fabricated by the Russian Federation, was intended to legitimise another instance of political retaliation against Ukrainian citizens,” the ministry said.
