The court sentenced two Ukrainian Armed Forces militants who invaded the Kursk region to 16 years in prison.

A court has sentenced two Ukrainian militants who invaded the Kursk region to 16 years in prison. This was announced on March 11 by the military investigative body of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in the Telegram channel.

"The evidence <...> was found by the court to be sufficient to convict the servicemen of the 408th separate infantry battalion "Black Sea Sich" of the Volga Federal University – soldiers Alexander Melnik and Alexei Pokatilov. They were found guilty of committing a terrorist act in the Kursk region (paragraphs "a" and "b" of Part 2 of Article 205 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)," the statement said.

It is specified that Melnik and Pokatilov illegally entered the territory of the Kursk region in order to commit a terrorist act. There they intimidated the local population, occupied private houses, and attacked Russian military personnel and civilians.

It is noted that the defendants were sentenced to imprisonment for a term of 16 years, with the first three years in prison, and the rest in a high-security penal colony.

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At the end of February, the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) sentenced a Ukrainian serviceman of the Azov group (recognized as a terrorist, banned in the Russian Federation) to 24 years in a high-security penal colony Maxim Melnikov for the murder of a civilian in Mariupol. According to the investigation, in March 2022, the accused shot a citizen who was in the pharmacy building with a hand-held machine gun.