Moscow, Oct 5, (dpa/GNA) – A Russian prosecutor has called for a seven-year prison sentence for a 72-year-old US citizen, accused of “mercenary activities”, due to his involvement in the Ukrainian defence effort against Russia’s invasion.
The prosecutor recommended that the sentence be served in a colony for serious offenders, the Interfax news agency reported on Saturday, citing the prosecutor’s plea.
The man’s age and confession were considered mitigating circumstances. The trial was being held behind closed doors.
Reports indicate that the US citizen from Michigan, has lived in Ukraine since 2014.
Following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, he joined a territorial defence battalion in Izyum, an eastern Ukrainian city. The city, located in the Kharkiv region, was captured by Russian troops shortly after the war began.
The US citizen was taken as a prisoner of war during the fighting in April 2022. He is now being tried as a mercenary in Moscow because, according to the contract with the territorial defence, he was supposed to receive a salary equivalent to about $1,000.
GNA