He called the victims "Ukrainian animals": a resident of the Odesa region was sentenced to five years in prison

The Ovidiopol District Court in Odesa Oblast found a native of Odesa guilty of justifying Russian aggression and sentenced him to five years in prison.

As noted in the court’s verdict, between June 6 and July 7, 2024, the man posted several messages on Telegram in which he spoke disparagingly about Ukrainians who had died. 

He wrote the posts in Russian, so Intenttranslated some of them: “As a result of the strike on Hrybivka in the Odesa region, about 200 Ukrainian animals were destroyed, including English-speaking instructors,” or “This is how a Ukrainian scum burns alive on Russian soil, and it’s wonderful,” and “A dog’s death for these swine.”

The defendant fully admitted his guilt. In determining the sentence, the court, on the one hand, took into account the man’s prior conviction, the defendant’s age, the absence of material damage, and sincere remorse as mitigating circumstances.

On the other hand, the severity of the criminal offense he committed against peace, human security, and the international legal order, as well as the fact that the convicted man’s actions posed a significant danger to society and were committed under martial law on the territory of Ukraine, and the defendant’s justification of armed aggression and glorification of representatives of the Russian Federation’s armed formations during martial law in Ukraine—indicate the defendant’s pronounced anti-Ukrainian convictions, his open and negative attitude toward the Ukrainian authorities and the entire Ukrainian people, and his support for Russian aggression against Ukraine—the court considered these to be aggravating circumstances.

Therefore, the court concluded that the sentence should be imprisonment without confiscation of property, given the absence of material damage.

Кирило Бойко