A court in Russia's Rostov region sentenced a former fighter of the Wagner mercenary group, Pavel Nikolin, to six years and 11 months in prison on December 18 for opening fire with an automatic weapon on a group of police officers in December of last year, wounding one of them. Nikolin pleaded not guilty, saying he opened fire at the Russian police because he mistook them for Ukrainian soldiers. Nikolin, 39, was recruited by the Wagner mercenary group last year from a penitentiary in Bashkortostan and sent to the war in Ukraine. To read the original story from Current Time, click here.
Editors' Picks
RFE/RL has been declared an "undesirable organization" by the Russian government.
If you are in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine and hold a Russian passport or are a stateless person residing permanently in Russia or the Russia-controlled parts of Ukraine, please note that you could face fines or imprisonment for sharing, liking, commenting on, or saving our content, or for contacting us.
To find out more, click here.