Chechnya Convicts Two Ukrainians Of Fighting With Separatists

May 19, 2016

GROZNY, Russia -- The Supreme Court of Russia's North Caucasus region of Chechnya has found two Ukrainian citizens guilty of fighting alongside Chechen separatists in the 1990s.

The jury on May 19 found Mykola Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh guilty of participating in the activities of a militant group, including murder and attempted murder.

Karpyuk and Klykh went on trial in September.

Investigators said they were members of the group known as the Ukrainian National Assembly-Ukrainian National Self-defense (UNA-UNSO) and arrived in Chechnya in 1994 to fight alongside Chechen separatists against Russia's federal forces, killing dozens of Russian soldiers.

UNA-UNSO has been officially branded as extremist and banned in Russia.

The Moscow-based Memorial human rights center has recognized Karpyuk and Klykh as political prisoners.