Ukrainian POW sentenced to six years in Russian penal colony

The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don has issued a “verdict” against 53-year-old serviceman of a Ukrainian tank brigade Vitalii Zaluzhnyi sentencing him to six years in a general-regime penal colony.

This was reported by Mediazona with reference to the court’s press service, according to Ukrinform.

The Russian side claimed that Zaluzhnyi was “found guilty of participating in a terrorist community.”

According to the Russian investigation, he allegedly voluntarily joined the Azov Battalion and took part in combat operations.

The case of Zaluzhnyi and 25 other Ukrainian citizens was submitted to a Russian court in October 2025.

According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs’ missing persons database, Zaluzhnyi disappeared in May 2022.

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As reported earlier by Ukrinform, the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Ihor Potapov, a Ukrainian serviceman from the Azov Brigade, to 28 years in a high-security penal colony.

Photo: Freepik