Russia jails former Ukrainian militia’s deputy commander

A Russian court has sentenced a former deputy commander of a Ukrainian militia unit to 16 years in a penal colony for taking part in what Moscow considers an illegal armed group and receiving “terrorist” training.

Denis Muryga was a senior member of Aidar, one of dozens of volunteer battalions that emerged in Ukraine after fighting broke out in 2014 with Russian-backed groups that declared breakaway “republics” in the east of the country.

The units, some with ultra-nationalist roots, were later absorbed into Ukraine’s armed forces.

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Muryga was detained in spring 2022 on the Russia-Ukraine border. Russian military news outlet Zvezda published video of him listening with his head bowed to the sentence, which was slightly less than the 18 years prosecutors had demanded.

The Ukrainian military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.