A court in Russia has sentenced two “Azov” prisoners of war for participating in a “terrorist community”

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced two Ukrainian “Azovians” prisoners of war.

This is reported by the Russian opposition publication Mediazona.

The first soldier — 29-year-old Dmytro Lebedev — was found guilty by the court on charges of participating in a “terrorist community” and “teaching terrorism” through his service in the “Azov” regiment. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

The second prisoner of war — 45-year-old Vasily Mukhin — was sentenced to 20 years in a maximum-security colony. According to the Russian prosecutorʼs office, he served in “Azov” since 2015 and was captured in May 2022.

According to Mediazona, during the investigation, Lebedev initially called himself a marine, and his military ID card was attached to the case files, confirming this. The Russian court did not examine the military ID card in detail due to the expert and translator being on leave.

However, before the court debates, he stated that the document was fake and was used as a cover, and that he himself had served in a separate special forces unit called "Azov" since 2019. According to him, the real documents were burned during the fighting in Mariupol.

• The Russians regularly hold trials of Ukrainians. For example, on August 8, 2025, a court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced an “Azov” fighter Vladyslav Shpak to 21 years in a maximum-security prison.
• 54-year-old Ukrainian Elena Ipatova was also sentenced to five years and two months in prison. She was also found guilty of “participation in a terrorist community”.

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