The Russians staged a trial over the kidnapped Melitopol volunteer: what was the sentence given to the captive

The Russians staged a trial over Melitopol volunteer Yaroslav Zhuk. They fabricated the case and extracted a confession from the man that he had attempted to assassinate the collaborator Olena Shapurova, who was then the director of the occupation Department of Education in Melitopol. Currently, the Russian Southern District Military Court has sentenced the Ukrainian under the article “international terrorism”.

According to the occupation media, the man was accused of preparing a terrorist attack. On June 17, 2022, Yaroslav allegedly threw explosives out of the car window while driving past the Industrial and Economic College. No one was hurt then, and the Russians quickly identified the culprit.

In August of the same year, it became known that Yaroslav Zhuk was being held in a pre-trial detention center in Simferopol and subjected to severe torture. The man was brought to the court with traces of beatings.

“They put them on the floor, poured cold water on them, beat them with a shocker,” said the volunteer kidnapped by the Russians at the time.

Later, the prisoner was transported to Rostov-on-Don, where he was kept in a cell with windows without glass. The air temperature in the chamber did not exceed six degrees. At the beginning of June, hearings in his case began there. Meanwhile, the condition of the prisoner, who was brutally abused by the Russians, rapidly worsened – the man’s teeth fell out, but he was afraid to go to the dentist offered by the Russians because of the unsanitary conditions.

At the court, the representative of the prosecution stated that the guilt of Yaroslav Zhuk was fully proven, and his statements about torture were not confirmed during the procedural check. The prosecutor urged the court to find Zhuk guilty and impose a total sentence of 27 years in prison, with the first 5 years to be served in prison. In the debate, the defense insisted on the innocence of Yaroslav Zhuk, noting that he is a prisoner of war.

On June 25, a Russian court sentenced Yaroslav Zhuk. He was found guilty of international terrorism and sentenced to 14 years in a high-security penitentiary, with the first 4 years to be served in prison.

“14 years of imprisonment for “confessions” beaten out by torture and torture. This is the result of the trial organized by Russia against Yaroslav Zhuk from Melitopol. In the same way, with inhuman torture, Russia is extracting “confessions” from other Ukrainians – military and civilians – to crimes they did not commit. Because the main and most terrible “crime” of Ukrainians is love for their Motherland,” wrote Ivan Fedorov, head of the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration.