Sham Russian court sentences Ukrainian marine commanders to life imprisonment for Mariupol defense
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Russian occupation authorities in Donetsk Oblast have sentenced two Ukrainian marine commanders and two deputies to life imprisonment in a high-security penal colony, Russia's Investigative Committee said on July 8.
"Ukrainian commanders and their subordinates have been convicted of the murder of 93 people and the shelling of residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Mariupol," Russia's Investigative Committee wrote in a post on social media.
The Ukrainian city of Mariupol was laid siege to by Russian forces in the early days of the full-scale invasion. Russian forces destroyed 90% of the civilian homes in Mariupol. Russian forces damaged every single hospital in Mariupol. Russian forces bombed the Mariupol theater where civilians were sheltering, killing 600 people. The siege by Russian forces killed at least 22,000 people in Mariupol, though the true death toll may never be known as Russian occupation authorities are destroying mass graves where victims were buried.
Those sentenced are Colonel Volodymyr Baraniuk, commander of Ukraine's 36th Separate Marine Brigade, his deputies Dmytro Karmiankov and Vitalii Yaroshenko, and 501st Marine Battalion commander Mykola Biriukov.
All were involved in the defence of Mariupol, with Baraniuk being made a Hero of Ukraine for his actions.
Russia regularly uses trumped-up charges to jail captured Ukrainian soldiers, activists, journalists, and regular civilians for lengthy terms.
Mariupol, in Donetsk Oblast, has been under Russian occupation since May 21, 2022, when Ukrainian forces withdrew from the Azovstal Steel Plant.
Azovstal defenders were ordered on May 16, 2022, to surrender to encircling Russian forces, and the surrender was completed on May 20, sending hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers into Russian captivity.
Mariupol is now in its fifth year under Russian occupation. While Russia continues to use the occupied city as a military hub, it is also actively constructing high-rise apartment buildings and attempting to replace the local Ukrainian population with Russian citizens.
