A court in Kyiv has sentenced Ihor Rudenko, a former Ukrainian army officer from Crimea who joined the Russian army in 2014, to 15 years in prison, according to Graty.
Foto: Stas Yurchenko / «Graty»
Rudenko has been found guilty of desertion and high treason. A criminal procedure against him was initiated in 2015. He has pleaded guilty.
Ihor Rudenko was an officer in Ukraine’s Coast Guard until 2014. He joined the Russian Coast Guard after Crimea had been annexed by Russia, and took part in the 2022 invasion. He surrendered himself near Bashtanka in the Mykolaiv region on 3 March.
Rudenko states that his brigade was commanded to perform a loaded march to the north of Crimea on 20 February where they were informed of the upcoming war. The brigade was provided with additional ammunition in the next three days.
They invaded the Kherson region on 25 February and moved towards Nova Kakhovka, where they established a foothold. The brigade was expected to move to Mykolaiv, which Russia eventually failed to capture. It was there that Rudenko surrendered himself to a territorial defence unit after eight days.
