A Russian court in Rostov-on-Don has handed a 20-year prison sentence in a maximum-security facility to Dmytro Yevhan, a Ukrainian servicemember who was captured defending the Azovstal steelworks plant in Mariupol.
Serving in the 36th Marine Brigade, Yevhan lost both his hands during the fighting in Mariupol. He faced charges under multiple articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, including mistreatment of prisoners of war, attempted murder, teaching terrorist activities, and violent seizure of power.
The accusations also involved Yevhan allegedly wounding and then mocking a captured officer in Russian-occupied Donetsk Oblast, Viktor Lupatis. Yevhan admitted to wounding Lupatis and apologized, and Lupatis did not end up pressing charges.
Yevhan refuted terrorism allegations, asserting he was acting in defense of his country and fulfilling military duties.
The prosecution sought a 24-year term, but Yevhan received a 20-year sentence. Since the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022, judges in Russia have been doling out increasingly harsh and long prison sentences.
Ukrainian prisoners of war have been subjected to rough conditions and systemic torture in Russia, according to POWs who have been been returned through swaps.
Kate Tsurkan
