Ukrainian court passes first sentences under war crimes law against former Crimean security officials

This is the first sentence passed by a Ukrainian court under Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war), the head of the Crimean Prosecutor-General’s office, Ihor Ponochevny, said.

According to court filings, following the occupation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, these SBU officials agreed to cooperate with Russian occupation authorities and transferred to Russia’s FSB security service.

At the beginning of 2015, they illegally detained Kostenko, then threatened and tortured him  with electrical shocks. The former SBU officers were attempting to coerce Kotenko into confessing that he was responsible for inflicting injuries on a Berkut riot police officer in Kyiv during the Euromaidan protests.