Ukraine files criminal charges against Russian lieutenant

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) filed criminal charges on July 13 against Russian Armed Forces Lieutenant Aleksei Sedikov, who was captured in the Donbas region, the pravda.com.ua news site reported. The charges – which carry a prison sentence of 8-15 years – include forming a terrorist group, leading the group and supporting the activity of a terrorist group.

Sedikov was captured along with two other Russian soldiers, one of which died from wounds, during a battle the night of July 10. His social media page contained a photo of him dressed in a Russian military uniform while in the Donbas region in June 2016. In another photo, Sedikov is wearing an earpiece, indicating that he’s a member of the military’s special security service.

The average Donbas fighter earns RUR 15,000 a month (USD 235), Sedikov revealed on a video posted on the Internet. He said he saw Russian officers and soldiers that serve either as advisors or leading Donbas military subdivisions. The rebel fighters fire provocative shots not only at Ukrainian forces, but also their own, he said.

Zenon Zawada: This capture adds to the mountain of evidence that the Russian military is active in Donbas. The Russian government could put an end of the warfare immediately if it wanted to. Yet it won’t stop until it achieves its objective, which is to dissolve the Ukrainian state, to establish Donbas de facto autonomy within the Ukrainian state, or to install a government in Kyiv loyal to its interests.