Ukraine sentences 20 members of the Russian Duma for violating Ukrainian territorial integrity

March 22 () –

The Ukrainian Security Services, in collaboration with the country’s General Prosecutor’s Office, have reported that 20 deputies of the Russian State Duma have been sentenced to 15 years in prison in Ukraine for violating its territorial integrity.

In a statement, the Security Services have reported that the investigation, carried out “in absentia” since all the defendants are in Russia, would have proven that “they supported the resolution on the appeal to the president of the Russian Federation with a request for recognition of the ‘independence’ of the temporarily occupied regions of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions”.

“Subsequently, the Kremlin used these decisions as a formal pretext to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and justify armed aggression,” the statement continued.

This condemnation, for the moment more symbolic than effective, also includes the confiscation of the assets of these members of the Duma.

Ukraine has also reported that prosecutors from the Chernivtsi Regional Prosecutor’s Office are investigating the possible indictment of 44 other members of the Russian parliament for similar crimes.