GRU special forces did not admit guilt

The special forces of the GRU Alexander Aleksandrov and Evgeny Erofeev at the meeting of the Goloseevsky District Court of Kyiv did not plead guilty. According to Gazeta.ru, they expressed a perplexity why they were considered military personnel. According to the accused, they are unemployed.

On Tuesday, prosecutors read out the accusations to Alexandrov and Erofeev. Both Russians stated that they were ready to testify. The next court hearing will be held on November 17.

On November 3, the lawyers of the special forces filed a lawsuit against the Supreme Administrative Court of Ukraine on the recognition of Russians by prisoners of war. According to the defender Erofeeva Oksana Sokolovskaya, the recognition of Erofeev and Alexandrov prisoners will avoid criminal prosecution, since, according to the Geneva Convention, special conditions of detention and exchange should be applied to prisoners of war.

Erofeev and Aleksandrov were captured on May 16 near the city the happiness of the Luhansk region. The Russian Ministry of Defense still refuses to admit that at the time of arrival in Ukraine they remained in the actual service, and were captured during the fulfillment of a combat mission.

The final version of the prosecution of the military was charged with part 28 - part 28 - part 2 of article 437 (waging an aggressive war by prior conspiracy by a group of persons; from 10 to 15 years of colony), part 2 of article 201 (smuggling of weapons and ammunition, committed by a group of persons; from 5 to 12 years), part 2 of article 332-1 (violation of the entry into the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine, committed by preliminary conspiracy by a group of persons; from 3 to 5 years), part 2 of Article 263 (illegal handling of weapons; up to 3 years), part 1 of Article 258-3 (assistance to the activities of a terrorist organization; from 8 to 15 years), part 3 of Article 258 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (a terrorist attack that has entailed death of a person; from 10 years to a lifelong time).

Both special forces previously stated that they reject accusations of terrorism and insisted on retraining the accusations: Erofeev - to espionage, Aleksandrov - to "illegal crossing of the state border in order to collect intelligence."