Russia Jails 3 More Captive Ukrainian Troops

Russia said Wednesday it had sentenced three more Ukrainian soldiers who fought in the city of Mariupol to jail, as it continued to put soldiers held in captivity on trial.

Around 2,500 people were taken into Russian captivity after the fall of Mariupol last May, some of whom were sent to Russia or occupied east Ukraine to face "trial."

Ukrainian soldiers Oleg Kolmychevsky, Dmitry Dobrovolsky and Alexander Romashin were found guilty of the murder of eight people in Mariupol, Moscow's Investigative Committee said.

"From 24 February to 12 April 2022, Dobrovolsky and Romashin, on the orders of Kolmychevsky, detained and shot civilians seen near their combat positions with automatic weapons," it said.

"In total, they killed seven civilian men and one woman."

It said that a Russian-installed court in Ukraine's Donetsk region, which Moscow refers to as the Donetsk People's Republic, sentenced Kolmychevsky to life imprisonment.

Dobrovolsky and Romashin were given 30 years in jail each, the Investigative Committee said.

The sentences came after the same court jailed three other captured Ukrainian soldiers to life imprisonment on Tuesday.

Rights groups have criticized Moscow for holding trials against captured Ukrainian soldiers, which have taken place in occupied Ukrainian territory or in Russia itself.