A court on the Crimean peninsula, illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, sentenced a Russian soldier to 10 years in prison, found guilty of accidentally shooting one of his comrades in Ukraine while he was drunk, Kommersant newspaper reports. , quoted by The Moscow Times.

Oleksiy Usenko was accused of fatally wounding a Russian National Guardsman who was accompanying the motorcade in a car last year, and also threatening to shoot a second Guardsman in the car.

Usenko pleaded not guilty to the charges, arguing that the soldier could have been killed by Ukrainian saboteurs or other Russian servicemen who were nearby.

Colleagues who convinced Usenko to surrender his weapons after the incident stated at the court that he was “drunk” and “behaved aggressively and inappropriately, claiming that he had detained Ukrainian saboteurs,” writes “Kommersant”.

Usenko’s comrades allegedly stated that they drank cognac with him the day before. But according to Kommersant, after a medical examination, Usenko, who allegedly passed a lie detector test, found no traces of alcohol or gunpowder.

The Military Court of the Crimean Garrison found Usenko guilty of murder and threatening to kill and sentenced him to 10 years in a strict regime prison.

Although Kommersant did not specify when the first verdict was announced, it said a military court in southern Russia had already rejected Usenko’s appeal, although Usenko’s legal team is believed to be filing a second appeal soon.

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