Ukrainian ambassador: Trial of National Guard member Markiv is Kremlin’s special operation

"I am convinced that the whole trial of Vitaliy Markiv, as well as the recent verdict delivered by the jury in the court of Pavia, is the evidence of a large-scale Russian special operation organized in Italy to discredit the Ukrainian resistance to Russian aggression. Of course, this version requires unquestionable evidence to be proved, but if the jury destroy the fate and life of the defender of our Motherland despite the utter lack of evidence, then who can deny my opinion, based on many factors and indications of the political nature of proceedings against Vitaliy Markiv," the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine quoted Ambassador Perelyhin.

On July 12, a court in the Italian town of Pavia delivered a judgment in the case of Ukraine’s National Guard member Vitaliy Markiv, sentencing him to 24 years in prison.

Vitaliy Markiv has been staying behind the bars since June 30, 2017, when he was arrested at the Bologna Airport. Markiv was charged with the involvement in the murder of Italian photographer Andrea Rocchelli and his Russian interpreter Andrei Mironov. They died as a result of a mortar shelling at the foot of the Karachun Mountain near Slovyansk town on May 24, 2014. At that time, the territory in Donetsk region was controlled by the militants.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov called the ruling of Italian court “unjust and shameful”, noting that the appeal would be filed.

 President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine to urgently solve the issue of returning Markiv to the homeland.

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