On October 25, the court of the Russian-occupied Ukrainian region of Donetsk sentenced in absentia 28-year-old Georgian citizen Giorgi Kinoiani to seven years of imprisonment for his participation on the Ukrainian side in the Russian war against Ukraine, reports Russian state-owned media TASS. He was found guilty under part 3 of article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (mercenarism).
Kinoiani voluntarily joined the Georgian National Legion in 2022 after the Russian invasion. The Legion is recognized in Russia as a terrorist organization and its soldiers are considered mercenaries, although Legion is officially recognized as part of the Ukrainian military. “Kinoiani took part in combat operations on the side of Ukraine at various contact points. The amount of remuneration received by the mercenary is equivalent to about 155 thousand rubles,” reports TASS based on the Prosecutor General’s Office’s statement.
Earlier, Russia also sentenced in absentia another member of the legion, Rusudan Ivaneishvili for 13 years, under the same article of the Russian criminal code.
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