Ukrainian court sends Russian tank crewman to 12 years behind bars for shooting at residential buildings in Mariupol

A court in Ukraine has sentenced a Russian tank crewman to 12 years in prison for shooting at multi-storey residential buildings in Mariupol, the Ukrainian Security Service reports.

The service said that there was evidence that “a militant of the Donetsk people’s republic terrorist organisation” nicknamed Phil committed the crimes. His name is not specified in the press release.

According to the service, he fired at least 20 times at residential buildings as a gunner and operator of a T72 tank. Based on the evidence presented, the court found him guilty of high treason and creating or participating in an illegal armed gang.

The man was detained in late April in the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian army shot the tank and took him captive.

The security service notes that the man was fighting for the militants since 2014.

In early September, a Ukrainian court sentenced a tank commander of the 35th separate guard motorised rifle brigade to 8.5 years for violating laws and customs of war.

The prosecution stressed that the tank commander had been “participating in the full-scale invasion of the Russian Armed Forces and crossed Ukraine’s state border with Belarus.” It is noted that his tank crew were on the way to Chernihiv to capture it.