Russia's Rostov-on-Don court announces sentences for Azov prisoners: up to 23 years in strict regime colony
The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Ukrainian prisoners who served in Azov at various times to long-term terms in a maximum-security colony, Mediazona writes.
The judges announced the following verdicts:
- 23 years in a strict regime colony — Oleksiy Smykov;
- 22 years — to Yaroslav Zhdamarov, Oleksandr Merochenets, Mykyta Tymonin, Oleksandr Mukhin, Oleh Tyshkul and Artur Hretskyi;
- 20 years old — Oleksandr Irsa, Artem Hrebeshkov;
- 19 years old — Anatoliy Hrytsyk;
- 17 years old — Oleh Mizhhorodskyi;
- 13 years old — Oleh Zharkov.
The men were brought into the courtroom in shackles. Before the verdict was announced, Oleh Zharkov felt sick due to stomach problems, and an ambulance was called for him.
In general, those involved in this “Case of 24” include military personnel, handymen, and cooks who worked at Azov. The Ukrainians were captured in the spring of 2022 in Mariupol and its suburbs.
Only 12 of them were present in court, SOTA writes. Another 11 defendants in the case were sentenced in absentia, as they had already returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange.
Two soldiers were exchanged before the trial began, eight cooks and a storekeeper returned to their homeland from the exchange in September 2023. Another Ukrainian serviceman, Oleksandr Ishchenko, died in a pre-trial detention center.
The Russian prosecutor's office demanded terms of 16 to 24 years in prison for the defendants, with all the men sentenced to a maximum-security prison. None of the defendants pleaded guilty.
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