Russia hands long prison sentences to 15 captured Ukrainian fighters

Fifteen members of a Ukrainian militia group were convicted by a Russian military court on Friday of taking part in "a terrorist organisation" and sentenced to between 15 and 21 years in a maximum security penal colony, Russia's prosecutor general said.



The men were members of Ukraine's Aidar Battalion who were captured in 2022. Their trial took place behind closed doors in a military court in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.



There was no immediate comment on the verdicts from Ukraine, whose human rights ombudsman has previously described the proceedings as shameful.



Rights groups, including Russia's Memorial, have alleged that the prosecution of the men was a violation of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war.



Russia rejects that, as the charges were based on alleged activity dating back up to eight years before the start of the full-scale war between the two countries in 2022. The men were not accused of war crimes.