ROSTOV-ON-DON. June 20 (Interfax) - The Southern District Military Court has handed down a guilty verdict to a member of Ukraine's nationalist Aidar battalion, an Interfax correspondent reported from the courtroom.
"[Denis] Muryga was found guilty [and] ordered to serve 16 years at a high-security facility," the judge said.
Muryga was convicted for membership of an illegal armed group and undergoing terrorist training.
The prosecutor had requested 18 years' imprisonment at a high-security correctional facility.
This is the first time a Ukrainian serviceman has been sentenced by Russia's Southern District Military Court.
Muryga was detained in the spring of 2022 while trying to cross into Russia's Rostov region.
According to the inquiry, in 2015 he joined the Aidar battalion, an illegal armed group, where he was issued with a firearm, ammunition and a military uniform. While there, he was trained to fight and handle firearms, and carried out guard duties for the battalion.
In May 2022 the Russian Financial Monitoring Service (Rosfinmonitoring) blacklisted Muryga as an individual with known links to extremism or terrorism.
According to the Rostov regional courts' joint press service, Muryga is a dual national of Russia and Ukraine.