A court in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea has sentenced a retired Ukrainian Navy officer to 8 1/2 years in prison on the charge of taking part in activities of an illegal armed group. The Dzhankoy district court sentenced Oleksiy Kiselyov on February 17 after finding him guilty of joining the Noman Chelebidzhikhan battalion of Crimean Tatars that is fighting against Russia's ongoing invasion in Ukraine. The battalion's founder, Lenur Islyamov, has denied Kiselyov's links to the military group. Kiselyov was abducted in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine's Kherson region in July 2022. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Crimea.Realities, click here.
Retired Ukrainian Naval Officer Given Long Prison Term In Russian-Occupied Crimea
Oleksiy Kiselyov appears in court in the Crimean city of Simferopol in October 2022.