Mykolaiv Court Increases Sentence to 15 Years for Crimean Treason Case

The Mykolaiv Court of Appeal increased the sentence for a Crimean resident who joined the Russian military despite being a Ukrainian citizen. He was captured during the battles for Krynky in November 2023.

This is stated in the verdict.

The court of first instance sentenced the man to 14 years in prison for collaboration, but the prosecutor's office appealed, demanding a review of the verdict. The Court of Appeal found him guilty of treason and increased the sentence to 15 years with confiscation of property.

During the hearings, the defendant explained that he considers Russia his homeland and joined the Russian Armed Forces in June 2023. However, the court noted that his Ukrainian citizenship had not been terminated, and therefore he was obliged to comply with Ukrainian laws, which defines his actions as criminal. The man pleaded partially guilty, stating that he acted in the interests of Russia as its citizen.

As a result, the sentence was increased to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

According to MikVisti, it is 31-year-old Eskender Mustafayev. In June 2023, Mustafayev signed a contract for military service in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation as an APC gunner in a separate Guards Marine Brigade, as he called it his "sacred duty to defend the homeland, which he considers the Russian Federation."

That same month, he arrived in the temporarily occupied city of Enerhodar, where he participated in the construction of defenses around the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.

After that, in November 2023, he underwent military training at one of the training centers of the occupation forces, from where he was sent to Krynky in the Kherson region, where, on November 22, by order of the command, he was to participate in the storming of the settlement.

On November 24, during a clash with the Ukrainian military, he surrendered.

Recently, the ataman of the public organization "Union of Cossacks of the Feodosia Region" was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was sentenced in absentia for participating in the occupation of Crimea.

Also, a former member of the Verkhovna Rada of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea was sentenced in absentia to 15 years in prison for treason and facilitating the violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. In addition, Ukrainian special services collected evidence against a former official who became a minister after the annexation of Crimea and forced local residents to pay taxes to the Russian budget.

Ірина Глухова