Ukrainian Azov soldier Belinov defended Mariupol for 86 days under encirclement. Russia called it terrorism and sentenced him to 27 years

Russia has sentenced a Ukrainian "Azov" soldier to decades in a maximum-security penal colony. The Southern District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don on 16 March issued 27 years long sentence to Bohdan Belinov, 28, taken captive in 2022 during the battle for Mariupol, Mediazona reports.

Currently, about 7,000 Ukrainian POWs are held in Russian prisons. Ukraine has stated that it is ready to engage in exchanges in any format to bring its fighters home.

Fake charges and trials without justice 

Belinov has been accused of “teaching terrorism and participating in a terrorist organization.” According to Russian investigators, he joined Azov in 2016, trained at the base in Urzuf, and served as a sniper.

He was captured in May 2022 during the defense of Mariupol. The battle for the city began immediately after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and lasted 86 days, 82 of which were under complete encirclement.

The total length of the outer defensive lines and strongpoints around the city was approximately 85 km. Russia occupied Mariupol at a terrible cost. According to some estimates, civilian casualties in the city reached 100,000, and 90% of buildings were destroyed.

Russia took more than 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers prisoner from Mariupol. 

Second fake verdict: new sentence absorbs previous one

For Belinov, this is already the second fictitious verdict from Russian-controlled courts. In September 2025, an occupation court in Donetsk “sentenced” him to 23 years in a maximum-security penal colony, allegedly for killing a civilian in Mariupol.

The new sentence absorbed the previous one, increasing his total imprisonment to 27 years.

Ukrainian human rights defenders emphasize that such “trials” demonstrate systematic violations of international law and the Geneva Conventions regarding the treatment of prisoners of war.