Lugansk and Donetsk People’s Republics’ courts have sentenced three Ukrainian servicemen to long prison terms for crimes against civilians, the press service of the Russian Investigative Committee (SK) reported.
Ukrainian citizens Viktor Pokhozey, Maxim Butkevich and Vladislav Shel have been found guilty of cruel treatment of civilians and use of banned methods in the armed conflict. On top of that, Butkevich was found guilty of attempted murder of two persons and malicious damage, and Shel was found guilty of attempted hate murder, the report said. “These servicemen used methods banned by the Geneva convention relative to the protection of civilian persons in time of war and Protocol 1 thereto.”
“Pokhozey was sentenced to 8.5 years, Butkevich to 13 years and Shel to 18.5 years in maximum security prison,” the SK said.
The SK continues to investigate criminal cases against members of Ukrainian armed formations and record and gather evidence. This enables it to expose crimes which were not reported before and prosecute the perpetrators.
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The Ukrainian government launched the so-called anti-terrorist operation against Donbass in April 2014. The peace talks that began soon thereafter failed to reach tangible results due to Kiev’s position to settle the conflict by force.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation to protect Donbass residents from Ukrainian aggression on February 24, 2022. Prior to that, LPR and DPR Heads Leonid Pasechnik and Denis Pushilin asked the Russian leader to provide military assistance.
The Lugansk People’s Republic acceded to Russia on September 30, 2022 following the unification referendum. *i*ie
