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Russian Court Sentences Three Azov Brigade Servicemen to 20 Years in Prison Over “Terrorism”
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The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has handed down 20-year prison sentences to three captured servicemen of Ukraine’s Azov Brigade in a case classified by Russian authorities as “terrorism.”
The verdict was reported by Mediazona on February 16.
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According to the outlet, 50-year-old Mykhailo Nasonov, 30-year-old Vladyslav Kormilin, and 52-year-old Serhii Kopylov were convicted of “participation in a terrorist community and undergoing terrorist training.” Such charges are routinely brought in Russia against members of the Azov unit.
Mediazona states that Kormilin had served in Azov since 2018 as a rifleman and was involved in the defense of the Azovstal steel plant in spring 2022.
Nasonov had been with Azov since 2015. Investigators allege that he served as a senior instructor and deputy commander of a vehicle platoon.
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Kopylov was assigned to the patrol company of Azov’s rifle battalion and was responsible for logistical and material support.
All three men were taken prisoner in May 2022.
This is not the first time Russia has sentenced Ukrainian servicemen captured during the war. In December 2025, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don handed down additional prison terms to Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Azov and Aidar units in separate terrorism-related cases.
According to Mediazona, the defendants were convicted of participating in a terrorist organization and undergoing training for terrorist activities.
Among those sentenced was Maksym Cherednychenko, an Azov serviceman, who received 18 years in prison. He had previously been listed as a prisoner of war alongside six other soldiers accused by Russian authorities of shelling residential areas. Mediazona notes that in 2024, Cherednychenko had already been sentenced to 26 years in a separate ruling.
Serhiy Spanchek, also identified as a member of Azov, was sentenced to 18 years in a high-security penal colony. In addition, 44-year-old Bohdan Havyada, a fighter from the Aidar battalion, was given a 17-year term in a strict-regime facility.
Earlier, a Russian court handed Mariupol defender Valerii Yeremeyev a 22-year prison sentence, accusing him of a staged offense—namely the alleged “execution of a civilian.”
Russian prosecutors claimed that Yeremeyev, a Ukrainian serviceman, shot a man inside a vehicle because he allegedly believed the individual held “pro-Russian views.”
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