A Ukrainian prisoner of war (POW) was reportedly fined 30,000 rubles ($387) for “discrediting” the Russian military while held in a Siberian penal colony on terrorism charges tied to defending Ukraine.
Russia’s independent outlet Mediazona, citing a Feb. 25 court verdict, reported that prisoner Anton Saikhiev said in the presence of two fellow inmates that the Russian military attacked and occupied Ukraine, killed civilians, and struck civilian facilities – testimony they later used against him.
“He stated that the Russian Army attacked Ukraine, occupied Ukrainian territory, and that its presence on Ukrainian territory was illegal, killing civilians and shelling Ukrainian social facilities with missiles,” the verdict reads.
The prosecuting parties also argued that “no pressure was exerted on the convicts to provide specific testimony” against Saikhiev.
Saikhiev “did not deny the fact of uttering words and expressions with the meaning specified in the administrative offence report towards the Russian Army” and “confirmed his opinion” regarding Russia’s war in Ukraine, the verdict adds.
Mediazona added that 38-year-old Saikhiev, after his capture while defending Mariupol in 2022, was serving his sentence in Buryat Correctional Colony in Siberia’s Ulan-Ude on terrorism charges, which were imposed on him by Moscow due to his service with Ukraine’s Azov units.
Moscow has framed its invasion of Ukraine as a fight against so-called neo-Nazism, casting the Azov Brigade – which traces its origins to a nationalist militia – as a scapegoat to justify its broader war aims.
A number of Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov Brigade have been convicted on terrorism charges after Moscow designated the unit a “terrorist and extremist” organization in August 2022, three months after Russian forces captured Mariupol, which the brigade had helped defend.
In March 2025, a Russian court sentenced a group of Ukrainian captives, including soldiers and ex-soldiers, to prison terms of up to 23 years on “terrorism” and other charges for their service with the Azov brigade.
In August 2022, 53 Ukrainian POWs – including Azov soldiers – were killed in unexplained explosions at the Olenivka prison camp, where Ukrainian captives were held. Kyiv blamed Russian sabotage, saying it was an attempt to conceal the torture of prisoners.