Russian court sentences Azov fighter to nearly 30 years in prison
The Southern District Court in Rostov-on-Don has sentenced Ukrainian serviceman Dmytro Popovych to 29.5 years in a maximum-security prison. Russian authorities convicted him in a case classified domestically as terrorism, according to Mediazona.
Popovych faced charges under two articles: participation in a terrorist organisation and teaching terrorism. For the first charge, he was sentenced to 5.5 years, and for the second, 16 years. After partial merging of the sentences, the total punishment was set at 18 years.
Previously, in January 2024, a court in the so-called “DPR” sentenced Popovych to 28 years in prison over alleged killings of civilians in Mariupol. According to the investigation, the serviceman allegedly ordered subordinates to fire a machine gun at three people walking down the street, resulting in two deaths.
Popovych served as a grenadier in the Azov Regiment, which Russian authorities label a “terrorist organisation.”
