Lavrov: We Have Sentenced More Than 200 Captured Ukrainian Fighters

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Russian courts have sentenced more than 200 Ukrainian fighters to prison since Moscow began its military operation in Ukraine. In an interview published on Sunday, Lavrov said, "Courts of the Russian Federation have indeed sentenced more than 200 members of Ukrainian armed formations to long prison terms for committing atrocities." Both sides have exchanged accusations of committing numerous atrocities in the war initiated by Russia with a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. In March, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, claiming that Moscow's forced deportation of Ukrainian children is a war crime. Lavrov noted that the Russian Investigative Committee has opened 4,000 criminal cases against approximately 900 Ukrainian individuals. He explained, "They include not only members of extremist nationalist associations and representatives of Ukrainian security forces and mercenaries, but also representatives of the military and political leadership in Ukraine."