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Sentence for convicted Russian citizen in Ukraine to come into force in late May — lawyer

On April 18, Kiev сourt found Aleksandrov and another Russian citizen Yerofeyev guilty of several counts, including terrorism, and sentenced them to 14 years in jail with confiscation of property
Alexander Aleksandrov  Maxim Pab/TASS
Alexander Aleksandrov
© Maxim Pab/TASS

KIEV, May 5. /TASS/. The sentence for Russian citizen Alexander Aleksandrov convicted in Ukraine will enter into force on May 23, his lawyer Valentin Rybin told TASS on Thursday.

"The sentence will come into force from midnight on May 23," Rybin said.

The date had not been set earlier as the document needed to be translated from the Ukrainian language. "We received the translation of the verdict in the Russian language on April 22," the lawyer said.

The appeal against the verdict could be filed until May 23, he added.

Alexander Aleksandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev were captured by Ukraine’s forces on May 16, 2015, in the Lugansk region, in eastern Ukraine. Kiev claimed the detainees are Russian servicemen. However, the Russian Defense Ministry said the Russians "were not active servicemen of Russia’s Armed Forces at the moment of their detention."

On April 18, Kiev’s Goloseyevsky District Court found Yerofeyev and Aleksandrov guilty of several counts, including terrorism, and sentenced them to 14 years in jail with confiscation of their property. Both men said they were not guilty of any charges.

In mid-April, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he was ready to swap convicted Ukrainian ex-pilot Nadezhda Savchenko for two Russian nationals Aleksandrov and Yerofeyev.