The so-called “supreme court” of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk has sentenced Georgian fighter Mirza Vanadze to 14 years in a “maximum-security penal colony” in absentia for fighting on Ukraine’s side “as a mercenary,” Russia’s state media reported on June 17.
Citing Russia’s investigative committee, RIA Novosti said that Vanadze arrived in Ukraine in 2022, joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces, received firearms and equipment, and took part in combat operations against “representatives of the security structures of the DPR [Donestsk People’s Republic], LPR [Luhansk People’s Republic]” – two Moscow-backed entities on Russia-occupied Ukrainian territories, as well as against Russian armed forces.
He has been placed on an international wanted list, the outlet said.
Russian-backed authorities in occupied Donetsk have previously handed down similar sentences in absentia to several other Georgian nationals who joined Ukraine’s defense following Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
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