Oleksiy Smykov
From 2018 to March 6, 2022, he served in the Azov Special Forces Regiment as a sniper, mortar crew spotter, machine gunner, and radiotelephone operator–diver. He was sentenced to 23 years in prison.
Originally, the case had 24 defendants. All of them had served in Azov at different times and in different positions. Many had never held a weapon or had left the army long before the full-scale war began. All are accused of violent seizure of power (Part 4 of Article 35, Article 278 of the Criminal Code) and organizing the activities of a terrorist organization (Part 1 of Article 205.5 of the Criminal Code). Some of the defendants are additionally charged with undergoing training for terrorist activity (Article 205.3 of the Criminal Code). The prosecution requested sentences ranging from 16 to 24 years in prison, and for all the men—in high-security colonies. Two Ukrainian servicemen—Davyd Kasatkin and Dmytro Labynsky—were exchanged before the trial began; Oleksandr Ishchenko died in pre-trial detention. In September, nine Ukrainian women who had served in Azov, eight cooks, and a supply clerk returned home as part of a prisoner exchange. Those defendants who were included in the exchange continue to be tried in absentia in Russia.
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