MOSCOW, October 3 The court sentenced three militants of the Azov* national regiment to 22 years in a maximum security colony for mortar attacks on residential buildings in Mariupol, reported on the Telegram channel Investigative Committee of Russia.
«»Found guilty of cruel treatment of the civilian population, the use of prohibited means and methods in an armed conflict, attempted murder committed in a generally dangerous manner motivated by political and ideological hatred and enmity, and intentional damage to another's property in a generally dangerous manner… The verdict was given to junior sergeant Vladislav Kurka, as well as senior soldiers Pavel Stepanov and Sergei Shevela, were sentenced to 22 years of imprisonment each, to be served in a high-security penal colony,” the statement said.
As the court found, on the day the SVO began, February 24, 2022, Vladislav Kurka and his colleagues were at the base of their unit. Early in the morning an alarm command was received, everyone moved to Mariupol.
While at the cemetery, Kurka decided to fire at a residential area on the outskirts of the city in order to “scare the civilian population, who were opposed to the soldiers of the Azov battalion*.”
To select a target, Kurka used the «Army SOS» application: he put a point on the map, it gave out the coordinates of the object. At home, he selected the 82 mm BM-37 guns that were within the maximum firing radius. Then, at his command, the mortar was positioned according to the indications.
As specified , during the period from March 5 to March 10, 2022, at least 100 shots of high-explosive fragmentation mines were fired at three houses, as a result of which residential buildings were destroyed. No civilians were injured.
* Terrorist organization banned in Russia
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