The deputy commander of the Georgian Legion was sentenced in absentia in the DPR to 24 years in a penal colony.

The Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) sentenced Levan Pipia, deputy commander of the Georgian National Legion (recognized as a terrorist organization and banned in the Russian Federation), to 24 years in a high-security penal colony in absentia. This was announced on March 25 by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.

It clarifies that the defendant was found guilty under Part 1 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Recruitment, training and other material support for a mercenary, as well as his use in an armed conflict"), part 3 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code ("Participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict").

According to the agency, Pipia was in Ukraine from 2016 to 2024, where he became a member of the Georgian National Legion. He was looking for mercenaries and sending them to war zones.

"Pipia also reported that the Georgian National Legion in Ukraine has a large number of training bases and camps located in the Dnipropetrovsk, Lviv and Mykolaiv regions, where he personally trains mercenaries as an instructor," the agency's website says.

The Prosecutor General's Office noted that in 2018, Pipia was appointed deputy commander of the Georgian National Legion and took part in military operations on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He received 6.9 million rubles for his work.

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On March 24, the DPR Supreme Court sentenced Nadim Khmaladze, a 60-year-old Georgian citizen, in absentia, finding him guilty under Part 3 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict"). For his actions, he received a reward in the amount of more than 745 thousand rubles. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison to serve his sentence in a high-security penal colony.