The court sentenced the Ukrainian Armed Forces mercenary who invaded the Kursk region to 23 years in prison

A court has sentenced Lithuanian mercenary of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Sharunas Yasyukevicius to 23 years in prison for invading the Kursk region and participating in hostilities. This was announced on March 12 by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.

It was established that in March 2022, Yasyukevicius joined the mercenary unit of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the territory of Ukraine and participated in hostilities, receiving a monetary reward for this.

In August 2024, he, along with other members of the armed group, attacked the Kursk region, where he threatened local residents, as well as fired at Russian military personnel and law enforcement officers.

"Yasyukevicius has been put on the international wanted list, and a preventive measure in the form of detention has been chosen against him in absentia," the agency's website says.

The court sentenced the mercenary to 23 years in a penal colony, of which he will spend the first five years in prison, and the rest of the term in a high—security penal colony. In addition, he was fined 2.6 million rubles.

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On March 10, a US mercenary was sentenced in absentia to 14 years in a penal colony in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). In March 2022, the man arrived in Ukraine and voluntarily joined the Normandy Brigade as a mercenary. He completed military training and after that took part in combat operations against Russian military personnel. The mercenary received more than 1.2 million rubles for his actions.