Azovstal Defenders Sentenced to Life in Sham Trial in Occupied Donetsk

A court in Russian-occupied Donetsk sentenced 9 Ukrainian servicemen to severe prison terms ranging from 24 years to life imprisonment, reported the Mariupol city council on Telegram on December 11.

The court accused soldiers of allegedly shelling the village of Staryi Krym near Mariupol in March 2022.

The defenders, all from the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ 36th Separate Marine Brigade, will reportedly serve their sentences in a strict regime penal colony.

The soldiers sentenced are Andrii Shestak, Nazarii Moroz, Vladyslav Yavorskyi, Vadym Shulha, Serhii Yampolskyi, Maksym Kolbasin, Dmytro Shalara, Volodymyr Penzin, and Kostiantyn Romaniuk.

All were among the defenders of Mariupol who fought against Russian forces and later retreated to the Azovstal steel plant, where they were eventually captured and taken prisoner by the Russian army.

The trial and sentencing in Donetsk are widely viewed as politically motivated actions by the occupation authorities, part of Russia’s broader campaign to suppress and intimidate Ukrainian resistance.

Previously, the prosecutor’s office of Rostov Military Court imprisoned Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Rostov-on-Don’s detention center for up to 24 years.

The case involves 24 Ukrainians who served in the Azov Brigade at different times. Some participated in the defense of Mariupol and Azovstal, while others were detained at home or during filtration operations after they had already left the service.

Earlier, footage of Russian forces firing on a civilian car in Mariupol emerged in the Russian documentary At the Edge of the Abyss, showing documented war crime committed during the 2022 siege of the city.