Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine on Monday sentenced five Ukrainian servicemen accused of “molesting the civilian population” to heavy prison terms, the Investigative Committee of Russia reported.

According to the press release of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Andrii Klementovich, Ivan Melnykovych, and Artur Sivitsky, soldiers of the “Azov” regiment, which participated in the defense of Mariupol in 2022, were found guilty of wounding civilians.

They were sentenced to 20 years in a high-security prison for “cruel treatment of the civilian population” and “attempted mass murder of several people on the basis of ideological enmity.”

These people were captured during the Russian offensive in Ukraine from the ranks of the “Azov” regiment, which Moscow considers a terrorist organization because it consisted of Ukrainian nationalists.

They “received an order to prevent the evacuation of the population to Russia” and to “destroy those suspected of aiding” the separatists, reports the Investigative Committee of Russia.

The Russian committee released a video on its official website showing three handcuffed soldiers hearing the verdict on the dock, behind bars, and then leaving the room.

These verdicts were handed down by the “supreme court” of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR, in eastern Ukraine), controlled by Moscow, which last year announced the annexation of the Ukrainian region, an annexation not recognized by the international union. community.

Another Ukrainian soldier, Bohdan Smagu, was also sentenced to 17 years in prison for “molesting the civilian population” near the city of Luhansk (east), reports the Investigative Committee of Russia.

Another military man, Ihor Lemetsiev, was also sentenced to 20 years in prison for the death of a civilian during the bombing of a nearby town, France-Presse and Agerpres report.

____

• Follow the latest events of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HotNews.ro