Russian court sentences five Ukrainian POWs to 15-18 years over Kursk region operation
A Russian military court in Moscow has sentenced five Ukrainian prisoners of war to between 15 and 18 years in prison over their alleged participation in a Ukrainian offensive operation in Russia's Kursk region, which Russian authorities classified as a terrorist attack.
According to independent Russian outlet Mediazona, citing the court's press service and Russia's Investigative Committee, the verdicts were handed down by the Second Western District Military Court in Moscow, Ukrinform reports.
Oleksandr Harbuz, 53, a soldier of Ukraine's 129th Territorial Defense Brigade, who was captured on July 23, 2025, was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Russian prosecutors accused him of planting mines on roads in the Sudzha district in October 2024.
Volodymyr Koshmela, a soldier of Ukraine's 25th Assault Battalion who has been in captivity since January 24, 2025, received a 17-year sentence. According to investigators, between December 2024 and January 2025, he gathered intelligence on Russian troops in the Sudzha district and took part in the "blockade" of the village of Guyevo.
Two other Ukrainian servicemen – Serhii Mekhonoshyn of the 17th Mechanized Brigade and Mykola Cheban of the 255th Assault Battalion – were each sentenced to 16 years in prison for allegedly entering the Glushkovo district, Kursk region.
According to the prosecution, Cheban drove into the region in May 2025 in an armored vehicle known as "Gyurza" and took up a combat position near the village of Zarya. He was captured on June 9, 2025.
Another Ukrainian serviceman, Oleksandr Sychuhov of the 33rd Assault Regiment, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for allegedly participating in the "blockade" of the village of Tyotkino in the Glushkovo district starting April 19, 2025. He has been in Russian captivity since May 31, 2025.
On October 15, 2025, the same court sentenced Volodymyr Parafilo, a 42-year-old Ukrainian captured in the Kursk region, to life imprisonment.