Georgian mercenary sentenced to life in prison for killing Russian Armed Forces soldiers

The Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) has sentenced 40-year-old Georgian citizen Nikolos Berianidze to life imprisonment for killing three Russian servicemen as part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU). This was reported on January 27 in the press service of the prosecutor's office of the Republic.

"He was found guilty of committing a crime under part 3 of article 359, article 317 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Mercenarism, attempt on the life of a serviceman, in order to obstruct the legitimate activities of the specified person to ensure public security")," - stated in the message.

According to investigators, Berianidze in 2016 arrived in Ukraine and voluntarily joined the Azov national battalion (Ukrainian nationalist formation banned in Russia, recognized as a terrorist organization). He also underwent training in Kiev.

It is noted that before that the man served in the Armed Forces of Georgia and participated in military operations, which NATO conducted on the territory of Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, in 2022 in Mariupol, the mercenary shot three Russian soldiers with a machine gun.

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On the same day, a criminal case was opened against a mercenary from the United States Michael Jones, who invaded the Kursk region as part of the AFU. It is indicated that the investigation is taking measures to establish the whereabouts of Jones and his further detention.