"Even drivers and medics are guilty": a court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced 15 Aidar fighters

A court in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, has sentenced captured soldiers of the "Aidar" unit of the Ukrainian Defense Forces. They received sentences ranging from 15 to 21 years in prison, UNN reports, citing "Mediazona."

Details

The accused were 15 Ukrainian prisoners of war from the "Aidar" battalion. The occupiers accused them of the following "crimes":

• "participation in a terrorist organization";
• "violent seizure of power";
• "undergoing training for terrorist purposes."

Not only "Aidar" soldiers who fought with weapons in their hands, but also drivers and medics were recognized as "criminals." According to the Russian invaders, providing medical assistance to servicemen "ensured the combat capability of the unit and its combat readiness to perform assigned tasks."

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don handed down the following sentences to the Ukrainian prisoners:

• Dmytro Fedchenko was sentenced to 15 years of strict regime;
• Andriy Sholik, Vitaliy Krokhalev, and Vyacheslav Baidyuk - to 16 years;
• Volodymyr Makarenko and Ihor Hayokha - to 18 years;
• Mykola Chupryna, Taras Radchenko, Semen Zabayrachny, Serhiy Nikityuk, Oleksandr Taranets, and Vladyslav Yermolinsky - to 20 years;
• Vitaliy Hruzynov, Roman Nedostup, and Serhiy Kalinchenko - to 21 years.

In addition, two women who have already returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange were involved in this case. These are medics Liliya Prutyan and Maryna Mishchenko.

Recall

Russian occupiers sentenced another defender of Mariupol. This refers to Yevhen Vintovkin, a serviceman of the "Azov" unit of the National Guard of Ukraine: he was accused of allegedly killing a person for "pro-Russian views."