A Ukrainian court has found six Russian National Guard commanders guilty in absentia in a case involving the shelling of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) during Russia's seizure of the facility in 2022, sentencing each of them to 12 years in prison.
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Ruslan Kravchenko said this in a Facebook post, Ukrinform reports.
"The court established that the assault was led by two major generals and four commanders of Russian National Guard battalion tactical groups. They coordinated the actions of the units and ensured the use of weapons during the seizure of the plant. Following the public prosecution by prosecutors from the Zaporizhzhia Regional Prosecutor's Office, the court found all six guilty of violating the laws and customs of war. Each was sentenced to 12 years in prison," the post said.
Kravchenko recalled that on the night of March 3-4, 2022, Russian forces launched an assault on the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Covered by tanks and heavy armored vehicles, they shelled the plant's premises for several hours, including in the direction of the nuclear reactors and the spent nuclear fuel storage facility, despite warnings of the risk of a man-made disaster. A fire broke out at the plant, while critical networks and communications infrastructure were damaged. Russian troops prevented emergency responders from accessing the site to extinguish the fire, while ZNPP employees remained trapped at their workplaces.
