Prosecutor General Kostin: Sentences against nine Russian military servicemen rendered

KYIV. Sept 19 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The cases against nine Russian military have already ended with court verdicts, Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin said.

"Only on Shishimarin [Russian military Vadim Shishimarin] there is a sentence for murder. Other sentences are for shelling civilian objects, theft, looting, etc. That is, we don’t have a lot of Russian military that we can really condemn. I don’t mean in absentia," Kostin said in an interview with lb.ua, published on Monday.

At the same time, according to him, a lot of cases are transferred to the courts for a hearing in absentia. "If there are victims, they should feel justice, that there will be a verdict even in the conditions of absentee justice. Maybe these soldiers continue to be in the ranks of the Russian armed forces or other formations, and we can capture them… If they are captured, we can identify them and punish them here. But we also need to understand that these people, after sentences – even in absentia – will never leave the territory of Russia, unless they fly to some country that supports them – for example, North Korea. Their property may be seized abroad. Even if it doesn’t, there will be some consequences," the Prosecutor General said.

Kostin called the issue of the exchange of convicted prisoners "very complicated and sensitive," explaining that sometimes judicial procedures are used as an excuse "to either not to make an exchange, or to demand any other conditions, or, for example, to start the same procedures at home."

"Of course, the families of the victims have the right to a sense of justice, and this may come after the punishment of the Russian military in the Ukrainian courts. Meanwhile, in my opinion, if we can return our military as soon as possible alive and in better health than they can have for many months of their stay in inhumane conditions, then this is a priority for me," the head of the department stressed.