Thanks to the evidentiary base of the Security Service, two more hostile accomplices who joined the occupation groups of the Russian Federation and fought against the Armed Forces on the eastern front have received actual prison terms.
Ukrainian defenders captured both militants during counteroffensive operations by the Armed Forces near Bakhmut. During the pre-trial investigation, the detainees provided testimony about war crimes committed by the Russian-backed militants in eastern Ukraine. These included the use of prohibited phosphorus bombs against the civilian infrastructure of the town of Popasna in Luhansk region and the looting of the Myronivska Thermal Power Plant and private houses in Donetsk region.
Considering their cooperation with the investigation, the court sentenced one perpetrator to 10 years in prison, while the other will spend 15 years behind bars.
According to the investigation, one of the convicted individuals had been fighting against Ukraine since 2014. At that time, he, a resident of Luhansk Oblast, joined the terrorist groups of the Russian militant Kozitsyn and shelled the positions of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) forces in the Svitlodarsk Bulge area.
After the start of the full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation, he joined the 85th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces. While among the occupiers, he participated in battles around Bakhmut, including efforts to restrain Ukrainian counteroffensives near the village of Klyshchyvka.
Another convicted individual was a resident of Luhansk region who, in February 2022, "mobilized" into the 6th Motorized "Cossack" Regiment of the 2nd Army Corps of the aggressor country. After joining the occupiers, he underwent tactical and fire training on the polygon for conducting assault operations in urban infrastructure conditions.
Later, the perpetrator was "assigned" to the Bakhmut direction, where he shelled the military positions of Ukrainian forces near the village of Kurdyumivka.
