A military court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced three Ukrainian individuals who were captured during the siege of the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. The charges against them stem from their service in the Azov brigade.
The sentences are as follows:
- Serhiy Blyzniuk, 54, received 18 years in prison;
- Hennadiy Bybochkin, 36, was sentenced to 19 years in a strict regime facility;
- Volodymyr Reva was given a 5.5-year sentence.
Blyzniuk and Bybochkin were convicted of participating in a terrorist community and training for terrorism, while Reva was charged solely for participation. Further details from the court proceedings were not disclosed.
Reports indicate that Blyzniuk began his service in the Ukrainian National Guard in 2014 and joined Azov four years later, serving as a machine gunner. He sustained serious injuries during street fighting on March 8, 2022, and was evacuated to the Azovstal bunker. He surrendered to Russian forces on May 8, 2022, the same day Bybochkin was captured.
Reva served in Azov for a shorter duration, approximately three months, working as a driver in a howitzer artillery support platoon. His sentence is noted as the lightest among the group, as previous sentences for Azov fighters had been harsher.
This ruling follows earlier sentences issued by the same court to 23 other Ukrainians, including both military personnel and support staff associated with the Azov battalion. Initially, 24 individuals were involved in the case, but one, Oleksandr Ishchenko, died in Russian captivity in July 2024.
Additionally, a court in Russia has sentenced Mariupol defender Valeriy Yeremeyev for an alleged crime of shooting a civilian, a charge widely regarded as fabricated. The Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War has previously explained Russia’s reluctance to exchange Azov detainees.
A military court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced three Ukrainians captured at Azovstal, with sentences ranging from 5.5 to 19 years. This follows a series of similar rulings against Ukrainian fighters by Russian authorities.