A court in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine has sentenced a Colombian citizen to 19 years in prison on charges of "mercenary" after he fought in the Ukrainian army, Agence France-Presse reported, BTA reported.
The Supreme Court of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, based in Donetsk - a city under Russian control in eastern Ukraine, found Oscar Mauricio Blanco Lopez guilty of participating "as a mercenary in an armed conflict," the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation announced. According to her, the 42-year-old man signed a contract with the Ukrainian army in May 2024 to participate in "combat operations against the Russian armed forces".
He was captured by Russian soldiers in the Donetsk region in December 2024, the statement said.
Russia systematically considers foreigners who fight in the Ukrainian army to be "mercenaries", which is punishable by Russian law, and not volunteers, AFP notes. Since the beginning of the Russian offensive in Ukraine in 2022, several foreigners have been tried by courts located in the Ukrainian territories seized by Russia.
On December 18, a British citizen accused of "mercenary" was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic, AFP recalls. Earlier this month, a Czech citizen was sentenced to 13 years in prison by the Supreme Court of the neighboring so-called Luhansk People's Republic, declared in the neighboring Ukrainian region, also controlled by Moscow.