A court in the DPR sentenced a mercenary of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from Georgia to 14 years in prison in absentia.

The Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) sentenced Georgian citizen Michal Demetrashvili to 14 years in prison in absentia to serve his sentence in a high-security penal colony for participating as a mercenary on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). This was reported on May 13 in the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.

"The Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic has pronounced a verdict in absentia in a criminal case against 48-year-old Georgian citizen Michal Demetrashvili. He was found guilty under Part 3 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict")," the publication says.

According to the investigation, in the period from February 2022 to January 2025, the defendant took part in hostilities against Russian military personnel, and also underwent combat training on Ukrainian territory and had weapons with him.

It is specified that the mercenary received a reward of 5.7 million rubles for the work performed. According to the Investigative Committee (IC) of the Russian Federation, Demetrashvili is currently on the international wanted list.

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The day before, the DPR Supreme Court sentenced Osorio Jose Bernardo Lajos, a 26-year-old mercenary from Colombia, to 14 years in a high-security penal colony in absentia for participating in the conflict on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The court found the foreign citizen guilty under Part 3 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation ("Participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict").