Captured Ukrainian human rights activist Maksym Butkevych sentenced to 13 years in prison

The “Supreme Court” of the Russian-annexed Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics” has sentenced three Ukrainian nationals, who were accused of committing war crimes, the Russian Investigative Committee Reports.

Among the convicted is Maksym Butkevych — a Ukrainian human rights activist, journalist, and one of the founders of Ukrainian media organization Hromadske Radio. The Russian Investigative Committee reports that Butkevich was found guilty of mistreating civilians, using prohibited methods in an armed conflict, planning the murder of two people, and deliberate damage to others’ property.

Butkevych was a platoon commander in the Armed Forces of Ukraine before he was captured by Russian forces. The Investigative Committee says that Butkevych “fully admitted his guilt, and repented of his actions.” He was sentenced in the annexed LNR to 13 years in prison.

The court also sentenced Vladislav Shel and Viktor Pokhozey, fighters in the Azov Battalion, who defended Mariupol. Both were convicted of mistreating civilians. Shel was sentenced to 18 and a half years in prison, and Pokhozey to eight and a half.