“Conveyor of Injustice”: How Russian Judges Issue Fraudulent Sentences to Ukrainian Prisoners

The “Book of Executioners” identified 49 judges of the Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don and the 2nd Western District Military Court in Moscow who sentenced Ukrainian prisoners. Only 26 judges of the Southern Court have issued at least 128 guilty verdicts since August 1, 2022, and another 150 cases against Ukrainians are pending before them.

This is reported by the “Book of Executioners” project.

The project reconstructed the stages of the prosecution of Ukrainians based on the testimonies of defenders released from captivity, documents of the Southern District Military Court of the Russian Federation (Rostov-on-Don) and the 2nd Western District Military Court of the Russian Federation (Moscow).

Since August 2022, according to the project, a conveyor belt has been operating in the Russian judicial system: prisoners of war are sentenced as “terrorists”, “mercenaries” and “war criminals” to dozens of years in prison or life imprisonment. Russia began persecuting Ukrainian citizens in temporarily occupied territories back in 2014.

The priority target is Azov servicemen and other defenders of Mariupol, but military courts also try civilians. After the Azovstal defenders escaped the siege in May 2022, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation filed a petition to recognize the regiment as a terrorist organization.

Thus, on August 2, 2022, the Supreme Court of Russia recognized “Azov” as a “terrorist organization” and banned its activities on the territory of the Russian Federation, the decision came into force immediately. The draft notes that the addition of the “terrorist” article meant longer prison terms and a greater propaganda effect.

The project identifies several goals for falsifying cases against prisoners:

• propaganda justification of the war and confirmation of the Russian narrative of “denazification”;
• creating “assets” for negotiation, which complicates exchanges or increases their “price”;
• intimidation of Ukrainian military;
• a public demonstration to the Russian population of “victory over Nazism.”

Initially, the Russian authorities planned a mass show trial of the “Azovites” in occupied Mariupol, but did not implement it. Instead, a case was opened in Rostov-on-Don against 24 of them – the largest ever received by the military court of the Southern Military District of the Russian Federation.

In early 2025, the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, stated that at least 145 “Azovites” had been sentenced. In total, since 2022, the Southern District Military Court has convicted prisoners of war and illegally imprisoned civilians in 436 criminal cases.

How are cases fabricated?

Most of the “Azov” prisoners were initially held in Volnovakha Correctional Colony No. 120 in Olenivka. According to the testimonies of those released, they were interrogated there from 5 to 8 times, the interrogations were conducted by officers of the FSB of the Russian Federation, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, and structures of the so-called “DPR”, and they were also often tortured and intimidated with threats of execution or amputation.

In the fall of 2022, most of the prisoners were transferred to SIZO No. 2 in Taganrog, where they spent 20 to 25 months. According to testimonies, this is where the cases were “processed”. Arrival at the SIZO was accompanied by violence, which led to at least 4 deaths and numerous injuries. Interrogations lasted 9-11 hours, each of whom was called to them from 12 to 20 times. The guards used physical force, and the investigators of the FSB and the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation behaved politely, but, according to testimonies, they gave orders to torture.

Among the methods described by the released defenders:

• torture with a taser and electric shock TA-57;
• sexual violence or threats thereof;
• hanging by handcuffs and on special structures;
• beatings with pipes, sticks, hammers, whips and belts;
• cauterization with fire and pouring boiling water over it;
• suffocation with hands and a plastic bag;
• imitation of execution;
• torture by hunger.

According to the released, the food was very scarce and of very poor quality, and at least 1 case of death of a prisoner of war from starvation was recorded. Once every 2 weeks, particularly brutal beatings took place, which the staff called “vaccination” or “prophylaxis.”

The most brutally affected were the soldiers of “Azov”, people with tattoos and those who spoke Russian poorly. According to the assessment of the released, only about 30% of the cases of violence were aimed at forcing self-incrimination. The content of the case often did not correspond to what was said under torture, and the prisoners were often not allowed to familiarize themselves with the case materials.

After the main stage of the “investigation” was completed, the prisoners were transferred to SIZO No. 1 in Rostov-on-Don. There, they were almost never beaten, and their food and medical care were improved, as they had to be prepared to appear in court without any signs of torture.

In one episode, the guards beat a Ukrainian before the hearing and brought him into the courtroom covered in blood. The judge asked, “What happened to you?” and after the answer, “Nothing, he fell in the corridor,” he laughed along with everyone present.

According to the project, state-appointed lawyers mostly did not perform defense functions. One of them, upon hearing a complaint about torture, said: “Were they tortured? So what?” In another case, after the defendant replied that he would not defend himself, the lawyer went out into the corridor and said: “He is not going to put a spoke in our wheel.”

Judicial system and sentences

The Russian judicial system, which hears such cases, consists of garrison military courts, district (naval) military courts, and appellate and cassation military courts. Since May 2023, Russia has increased the responsibility for “terrorist crimes”: the maximum penalty is life imprisonment, the age of criminal responsibility has been reduced to 14 years, and parole is prohibited. All such cases are heard in the first instance by district military courts.

An analysis of the verdicts, according to the project, revealed systemic violations of the right to a fair trial:

• accusatory bias, when the judge actually acts as a rubber stamp for the indictment;
• formal hearing without proper evidence and with the nominal presence of a lawyer;
• The prosecution witnesses do not appear, and the court announces interrogation protocols obtained under pressure or torture.

In most of the analyzed cases, the trial consisted of two 30-minute sessions: the first session was for the reading of the charges, and the second session was for the pronouncement of the verdict. Only in a few cases were there 10-12 sessions.

The project provided examples of verdicts from the Southern District Military Court:

• Viktor Chepiga from military unit A3488 (24th separate assault regiment “Aidar”) received 20 years from judge Andrey Minashkin under Part 2 of Art. 205.5 and Art. 205.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. According to the draft, his guilt was mobilization and service in the regiment.
• Maksym Marcinko from military unit A3057 received 7 years from the same judge for his service in “Azov” (Part 2, Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).
• Oleksiy Brunko from military unit A3220 (46th separate assault battalion “Donbas”) received 18 years from judge Artem Shalaev for mobilization and service in the “Donbas” regiment.

The draft emphasizes that these sentences indicate convictions for belonging to a unit of the Defense Forces, not for a specific proven crime.

The project identified 26 judges of the Southern District Military Court of the Russian Federation who, since August 1, 2022, have issued at least 128 convictions against Ukrainians, including prisoners of war. Another 150 cases are pending before them. The identities of other judges who sentenced Ukrainians are being established. Separately, the project identified 23 judges of the 2nd Western District Military Court of the Russian Federation who convicted 224 Ukrainians.

The most common articles are 205.3 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“undergoing training for the purpose of committing terrorist activities”) and 205.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“organizing a terrorist community and participating in it”). The most common terms are 18 and 13 years of imprisonment, in some cases 5.5 years. Four Ukrainian civilians, tried by judge Valery Opanasenko, received life imprisonment.

List of judges of the 2nd Western District Military Court of the Russian Federation

• Bakin Vitaliy Volodymyrovych – 8 citizens of Ukraine
• Belousov Oleg Alexandrovich (data being revised) – 8
• Borisov Eduard Borisovich (data being verified) – 2
• Brovko Serhiy Volodymyrovych – 6
• Vladimirov Roman Viktorovich – 11
• Igor Volodymyrovych Drugachenko – 11
• Zhidkov Timur Georgievich (data being refined) – 15
• Zubov Yevgeny Vasilyevich – 12
• Ivanov Dmitry Yurievich – 7
• Kakadaev Anton Igorovich – 15
• Kiforenko Roman Ivanovych – 11
• Kondratiev Oleksandr Mikhailovich – 10
• Krasnov Vadim Volodymyrovych – 3
• Sergey Petrovich Krivosheev – 12
• Massin Yuri Alexandrovich – 17
• Morozov Andriy Alexandrovich – 17
• Nassukha Oleksandr Germanovich (data is being clarified) – 1
• Nikitchuk Igor Volodymyrovych (data is being clarified) – 15
• Andriy Viktorovych Pluzhnikov (data is being clarified) – 7
• Repeta Konstantin Nikolaevich – 3
• Sai Vasyl Alekseevich – 4
• Semin Igor Vasilyevich (data is being clarified) – 10
• Trishkin Albert Viktorovich – 19

List of judges of the Southern District Military Court of the Russian Federation

• Bezgub Ilya Mykolayovych – 11 citizens of Ukraine
• Vasylchuk Mykolay Yuriyovych (data is being clarified) – 1
• Vovchenko Denys Vitaliyovych – 3
• Volkov Oleg Valeriyovych (data being clarified) – is considering 1 case
• Galkin Denis Alexandrovich – 11
• Generalov Alexander Vasilyevich – 4
• Gorelov Sergey Mikhailovich – 2
• Gubarev Pavel Yurievich – 12
• Dovlatbekyan Gurgen Serzhikovich (data is being clarified) – 4
• Arslan Ivanovich Zhaginov – 3
• Kostin Igor Volodymyrovych (data being verified) – 4
• Krivtsov Kirill Nikolaevich – 12
• Lachinov Sakit Yeskerkhanovich (data being verified) – 3
• Magomadov Oleksiy Abdulmazhytovych (data being clarified) – is considering 1 case
• Mamedov Vitaliy Viktorovych (data is being clarified) – 3
• Mashukov Timur Khabasovich – 8
• Minashkin Andriy Nikolaevich – 8
• Nikitin Maksym Mikhailovich (data being specified) – 2
• Obraztsov Serhiy Vyacheslavovich (data is being clarified) – 4
• Valery Serhiyovych Opanasenko – 4
• Prostov Konstantin Igorovich – 7
• Saprunov Roman Viktorovich – 2
• Stepanov Denis Vasilyevich – 5
• Terentyev Oleg Dmytovych (data is being clarified) – 3
• Cherepov Oleg Alexandrovich (data is being clarified) – 7
• Shalaev Artem Alexandrovich – 5

We will remind you that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree imposing sanctions against Russian judges who illegally sentenced Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Also follow “Pryamim” on Facebook , X , Telegram , and Instagram.