Six traitors who joined the Storm Z group of the Russian occupation forces and fought against Ukraine have been sentenced to real terms of imprisonment.
According to the SBU, they are former criminal prisoners and militants from the Russian Ministry of Defense’s Storm Z assault units.
The attackers were captured by Ukrainian defenders during fierce fighting in the areas of Avdiivka and Bakhmut.
– Investigators found that at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the offenders joined the units of the Southern Military District of the Russian Armed Forces,” the SBU reported.
“One of the convicts is a resident of Makiivka who joined the 113th rifle regiment of the mobilization reserve of the aggressor country. As part of it, he was engaged in the arrangement of checkpoints and other fortifications in Nova Kakhovka in Kherson region.
Later, he was promoted to the position of squad commander and deployed to the eastern front to deter counteroffensive operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Two more militants were enlisted as riflemen in the Storm Z battalion. As part of this unit, they took part in battles in the Zaporizhzhia sector and then in the Donetsk region.
The fourth perpetrator wrote an application for pardon from the occupation “Toretsk correctional colony of the DPR” and immediately enlisted in the enemy’s Vostok unit.
Another militant mobilized into the occupiers’ ranks, where he took the position of assistant grenade launcher. After completing a training course, he was sent to combat positions near the village of Pisky near Avdiivka.
Another traitor signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense and joined the ranks of the 114th separate motorized rifle brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, which was involved in the assault on the positions of Ukrainian troops in the Pokrovsk district of Donetsk region.
Punishment for traitors
Based on the evidence collected, the court found the offenders guilty under the following articles of the Criminal Code:
- p. 1 and 2 of Article 111 (High treason committed under martial law);
- p. 7 of Art. 111-1 (Collaboration activities, voluntary participation of a citizen of Ukraine in illegal armed or paramilitary groups);
- p. 2, Art. 260 (Participation in paramilitary or armed groups not provided for by law).
According to the SBU, the court sentenced two of the detainees to 12 years in prison and four to 15 years in prison.
