Russian court sentences US mercenary to 14 years in jail
Two foreign fighters have been sentenced to 14 years in jail for fighting with Kiev’s forces, the Supreme Court of Russia’s Donetsk People’s Republic announced on Thursday. The Prosecutor General’s Office in Moscow added that Russia is seeking their arrest through international warrants.
One of the two has been identified as US national Charles Albert Carter, 48. Prosecutors said he arrived in Ukraine sometime in mid-2022 and joined the notorious Carpathian Sich battalion.
Officially designated the 49th Infantry Battalion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the unit is the reincarnation of the eponymous force created in 2014 by Oleg Kutsyn of the Ukrainian nationalist Svoboda Party. Its members have been accused of committing multiple war crimes in Donbass.
Carter had military experience before going to Ukraine and served for some time as a NATO instructor, Russian officials said.
The second was named as Palma Vajari Moises Urbina. According to Russian prosecutors, the 30-year-old served in the Ukrainian International Legion, the force created specifically for foreign fighters.
Russian authorities have identified thousands of mercenaries who have been paid by Kiev for their services in the ongoing conflict, according to Rodion Miroshnik, who is leading a special Foreign Ministry mission to investigate alleged Ukrainian war crimes. Those who survive their experience and flee to other countries will nevertheless be held accountable for their actions, he said in an interview in August.
“I believe the information about their crimes will be available in many nations, and people there will realize what kind of people Ukraine is using now,” the diplomat said.
