A court in the Russian Federation sentenced seven Ukrainian prisoners for participating in hostilities in the Kursk region

In the capital of the Russian Federation, Moscow, the 2nd Western District Military Court sentenced seven captured Ukrainian soldiers to 15 to 16 years in prison for their participation in the offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the Kursk region. This was reported by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation.

The court found Anatoly Voloshin, Volodymyr Arshulyk, Serhiy Karaev, Oleksandr Doychuk, Zinoviy Sygerich, Andrian Kulbaba, and Oleh Vovk guilty of “committing a terrorist attack by a group of persons with a prior conspiracy that caused serious consequences” (items “a” and “c” of part 2 Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

According to the investigation, at the beginning of August 2024, the accused, violating the sovereignty of the Russian Federation, “illegally invaded the territory of the Korenevsky district of the Kursk region for the purpose of terrorist activities.” The Ukrainian military equipped firing positions in the area and deployed a command post in one of the buildings.

The 1949 Geneva Convention on the Treatment of Prisoners of War stipulates that after the end of hostilities, prisoners of war are released and repatriated. An exception applies to persons against whom criminal prosecution has been instituted for committed crimes, but participation in hostilities as part of the regular army itself is not subject to prosecution.