Azov militants received 24 and 26 years in prison for killing civilians in the DPR

Two militants of the nationalist Azov regiment (a terrorist organization banned in Russia) received 24 and 26 years in prison for the murder of civilians in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR). This was reported on June 9 by the Investigative Committee of Russia (IC RF).

"Sniper Ruslan Orlov and orderly Artyom Novikov were found guilty of committing crimes under Part 1 of Article 356 (ill-treatment of civilians, use of means and methods prohibited by an international treaty of the Russian Federation in an armed conflict) and paragraphs a, g, and l of Part 2 of Article 105 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. (the murder of two or more persons committed by an organized group motivated by political and ideological hatred)," the ministry said in a statement posted on its website.

In April 2022, Orlov and Novikov, while in Mariupol, discovered three men. Thinking that they were taking the position of Russia, the defendants shot them on the illegal order of their higher command. The victims were fatally wounded.

Orlov was sentenced to 26 years in prison, Novikov to 24 years in a high—security penal colony.

Awaiting punishment: Russia is ready to involve the United States in the investigation of crimes of Ukrainians

Foreign observers can ensure transparency of all procedures.

On June 4, an Azov militant who shot a resident of Mariupol in the head received 23.5 years in a high-security penal colony. It is specified that in 2022 Daniil Ovcharenko in Mariupol shot a civilian in the head with a pistol, as a result of which the man died.