The court in Russia increased the prison term of a marine from the Mykolaiv brigade to 23.5 years

Convicted marine Dmytro Yevhan, photo: Mediazona

The Military Court of Appeal of the Moscow Region increased the term to 23.5 years in the strict regime colony of the Mykolaiv 36th Separate Marine Brigade. Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilinskyi to Dmytro Yevhan.

The decision was made on August 28, the wife of the convict informed the Media Initiative for Human Rights about it.

Dmytro Yevhan was captured by the Russians while leaving Azovstal, which was defended by marines.

In March 2024, the Rostov court found him guilty under four articles of the Russian Criminal Code: cruel treatment of prisoners of war, attempted murder, teaching terrorist activities and violent seizure of power. Yevhan was then sentenced to 20 years in a high-security prison.

In the materials of the Russian investigation, it is indicated that in April 2022, while on the territory of the plant in Mariupol, Yevhan, together with his brothers, allegedly inflicted 9 stab wounds with a bayonet knife to a captured ensign from the so-called «DNR» Viktor Lupatsii.

«I am an active serviceman of the army of Ukraine, I swore an oath to my people. I had to defend my country, but I am not a terrorist,» Yevhan said in court on the eve of the verdict, Mediazona writes.

According to Radio Liberty, in 2023, the Russian-controlled court of Donetsk region sentenced seven marines in the case of the «torture» of Viktor Lupatsii. They received terms from 16 to 22 years in the colony.

But during the meeting in March, the defender of the marine stressed that the victim Lupatsii has no complaints against Dmytro Yevhan.

At the court on August 28, Dmytro took part in the hearing via video link from detention center №3 in Novocherkassk, Rostov region. The prosecutor filed a motion to increase the sentence.

The marine's wife Valentina informed MIHR that the appeal process went very quickly, and the convict himself continues to be held in Novocherkassk.

The motivational part of the sentence has not yet been announced. After its preparation, the case will be returned to the Southern District Military Court, and then the decision will be transferred to the detention center. Within two months, Dmitry can be staged to one of the colonies of the Russian Federation.

The Russians themselves, after Yevhan was captured by them, shared a video with Dmytro on their Telegram channels, in which the marine believed he had killed the DNR citizen. But later in July 2022, the propagandists released another video, which showed that the ensign of the «people's police of the DNR» was alive and had come to meet with the Ukrainian.

Yevhan's one-on-one bet with Lupatsii, which was shown on central Russian TV channels, screenshot from the Rossiia 1 channel

Yevhan's one-on-one bet with Lupatsii, which was shown on central Russian TV channels, photo: rosZMI

We should also note that in the battles for Mariupol, Dmytro Yevhan was seriously wounded and lost an arm.

We will remind, as of 2024 , almost 1,300 servicemen from the Mykolaiv 36th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilinskyi are in captivity of the Russian Federation.