The Russian court of the so-called "LPR" gave 13 years in prison to Ukrainian prisoner of war, human rights defender and founder of "Hromadske Radio" Maksym Butkevych.
As Mediazona reports, the occupiers found him guilty of alleged "war crimes."
He was charged with two counts of cruelty to the civilian population and attempted murder. The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation claims that Butkevich was a platoon commander in a separate special battalion "Berlingo" and in June last year in Severodonetsk allegedly fired a grenade launcher at the entrance of a residential building, injuring two people.
Russian puppet courts also sentenced two more Ukrainian military prisoners to prison — Viktor Pokhozey and Vladyslav Shel. The first received 8.5 years of prison, and the second — 18.5 years. Shel is called a soldier of the "Azov" regiment in the IC [Investigative Committee].
- Human rights defender Maksym Butkevych joined the ranks of defenders of Ukraine at the beginning of March 2022. Russian propagandists announced his capture in the area of the Zolote and Hirske checkpoints (Luhansk region) on June 24, publishing a video of the interrogation.