Ukrainian Courts Sentence 12 Russian Lawmakers

(MENAFN) Twelve members of the Russian parliament, including several former sports champions, have been sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment in absentia by Ukrainian courts.

According to a news agency, which cited official court files on Tuesday, the judgments were issued based on accusations that the individuals participated in efforts deemed by Kiev to threaten Ukraine’s territorial sovereignty.

Among those sentenced is Vladislav Tretyak, a renowned ex-world champion in ice hockey, and Nikolay Valuyev, a former world boxing titleholder.

Both were handed their verdicts by Ukraine’s Khmelnitsky district court despite not being physically present for the proceedings.

Andrey Kartapolov, who leads the defense committee in Russia’s State Duma, along with nine additional current lawmakers, also received identical sentences. Included in this group is Aleksander Prokopyev, a former deputy who now serves as the Prime Minister of Russia’s Altai region.

Each was convicted by different Ukrainian judicial bodies.

These individuals are accused of infringing on Ukraine’s territorial unity.

The allegations are reportedly connected to their endorsement of parliamentary declarations that acknowledged the sovereignty of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

These territories later became part of Russia following a referendum held in February 2022, shortly before the onset of Moscow’s military campaign.

The list of convicted Russian deputies also features Vladislav Reznik, Ruslan Gadzhiev, Sergey Burlakov, Shamsail Saraliev, Rustam Kalimullin, Evgeny Popov, Ildar Gilmutdinov, Aydin Saryglar, and Viktor Vodolatsky.

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