Partner of Ukraine fighter facing Russian prison sentence demands his release
KYIV, March 27 (Reuters) - Kateryna Bondarenko had little doubt that her boyfriend, a fighter with Ukraine's Azov regiment captured by the Russians in 2022, would receive a long prison term when a military court handed down its sentence.
That did not make it any easier when the news of Oleksii Smykov's punishment came on Wednesday.
"Everyone knew it was going to happen, but everyone was shocked," Bondarenko, 26, told Reuters after the sentencing. "You see the name of your loved one and it says sentenced to 23 years ... It's very destabilising."
Smykov was one of 12 members of the regiment who appeared shaven-headed in court. The defendants all received long sentences, and Russian independent media outlet Mediazona said they intended to appeal.
Bondarenko urged Ukraine's allies to put pressure on Russia to return the fighters, who were defending the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Russia designated the Azov regiment as a terrorist organisation and the defendants were charged with terrorist activity and violently seizing or retaining power.
Ukraine's human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets accused Russia of violating international humanitarian law because he said the men were combatants, not criminals.
When Smykov, 28, became one of the first Azov fighters to be captured, Bondarenko did not know where to turn to find out what was happening to him.
That changed after hundreds of fighters defending Mariupol surrendered in May 2022, as Russia besieged the city.
Three years later, group chats with relatives of other prisoners make up almost all of her texts.
On Wednesday, her phone buzzed with news from the trial in southern Russia.
"In the video ... he is standing looking at the ground, sullen. He does not know anything at all: that people are fighting for him here, love him, wait for him."
Bondarenko said she hoped he might be included in a prisoner swap, such as those that have taken place during the three year war. Eleven other defendants in the case on Wednesday were convicted in absentia, having already been exchanged in swaps.
"If we don't demand the return of these prisoners, they won't just appear in the exchange," she said, while acknowledging that the conviction now made it more difficult.
She calms herself by thinking about their plans: marriage, children, travel.
"This is not the life I wanted," she said. "I just think about how he feels and I understand that in my position I have nothing to complain about."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Moment one of Putin's warplanes crashes after wing falls off during bombing raid
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This is the extraordinary moment a wing fell off a Russian Su-25 during a frontline mission. War footage captured the second the £15 million attack jet crashed after flying in a pair over Ukraine's Donetsk region. The pilot miraculously cheated death by ejecting before his aircraft fell to the ground. His doomed warplane is seen banking sharply before falling out of the sky and crash diving into a field. At first it appeared the Su-25 had been shot down – possibly by 'friendly fire', an unguided missile, from its partner plane, a claim made by the Ukrainian media. The footage shows heat trap flares and possible missiles from the Su-25s. Ukraine's Military media outlet ruled out both friendly fire and an exploding missile on the distressed aircraft. Yet experts on both sides now believe the aircraft's downing near Soledar could be related to Vladimir Putin's use of ageing war planes, with some Russian jets 40 years old or more. While flames and white smoke are seen rising from the aircraft, there is no giant explosion, which would be expected if there was a direct missile hit. The right wing is seen falling from the stricken aircraft – and the pilot's parachute is visible after ejecting. The pilot was reportedly rescued by Russian ground forces while under fire from Ukrainian drones. He was then evacuated from the crash site by a Mi-8 helicopter. 'The pilot is in the hospital with a broken arm,' reported Russian Telegram channel Fighterbomber. 'A commission will investigate what went wrong and determine who is to blame.' The same source said that 'destruction of the wing' was the cause. Ukraine has neither officially claimed to have shot down the plane, nor taunted Russia over another friendly fire incident. The visible 'missiles' may be unignited heat trap flares designed to distract heat-seeking missiles away from the aircraft's engines, according to some sources. 'The third possible reason is a defect in the aircraft's power structure that arose due to prolonged intensive use of the aircraft in combat operations or a manufacturing defect,' said the channel. 'This hypothesis is supported by the fact that the wing broke off at the moment of the turn, when it is subjected to the greatest loads. More Trending 'Another indirect confirmation may be that the operation of Russian attack aircraft, whose average age reaches 40 years, is associated with a significant number of emergency situations.' The theory was backed by Ukrainian war analyst Yury Butusov, who said: 'At first it seems that it was shot down by its own pilot, the pilot of another aircraft. 'However, when viewed in slow motion, one can conclude that the Su-25's wing failed due to excessive overload and exhaustion of the attack aircraft's resources.' The Su-25 is a Soviet-designed close-air support aircraft developed by Sukhoi in the late 1970s. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: British mothers 'have to accept that their sons will have to die for Nato' MORE: Putin's dirty new war tactic revealed in grim photos MORE: Putin unleashes aerial glide bombs in 'most powerful attack of entire war' on Kharkiv
North Wales Chronicle
2 hours ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Zelensky warns oil price surge could help Russia's war effort in Ukraine
The Ukrainian president told journalists in Kyiv that the surge in oil prices threatens Ukraine's position on the battlefield, especially because western allies have not enforced effective price caps on Russian oil exports. 'The strikes led to a sharp increase in the price of oil, which is negative for us,' Mr Zelensky said. 'The Russians are getting stronger due to greater income from oil exports.' Global oil prices rose as much as 7% after Israel and Iran exchanged attacks over the past 48 hours, raising concerns that further escalation could disrupt oil exports from the Middle East. Mr Zelensky said he planned to raise the issue in a conversation with US President Donald Trump. 'In the near future, I will be in contact with the American side, I think with the president, and we will raise this issue,' he said. He also expressed concern that US military aid could be diverted away from Ukraine towards Israel during renewed tensions in the Middle East. 'We would like aid to Ukraine not to decrease because of this,' he said. 'Last time, this was a factor that slowed down aid to Ukraine.' Ukraine's military needs have been sidelined by the US in favour of supporting Israel, Mr Zelensky said, citing a shipment of 20,000 interceptor missiles, designed to counter Iran-made Shahed drones, which had been intended for Ukraine but were redirected to Israel. 'And for us it was a blow,' he said. 'When you face 300 to 400 drones a day, most are shot down or go off course, but some get through. We were counting on those missiles.' An air defence system, Barak-8, promised to Ukraine by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu was sent to the US for repairs but never delivered to Ukraine, he added. The Ukrainian president conceded that momentum for the Coalition of the Willing, a group of 31 countries which have pledged to strengthen support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, has slowed because of US ambivalence over providing a backstop. 'This situation has shown that Europe has not yet decided for itself that it will be with Ukraine completely if America is not there,' he said. The offer of a foreign troop 'reassurance force' pledged by the coalition is still on the table 'but they need a backstop, as they say, from America' Mr Zelensky said. 'This means that suddenly, if something happens, America will be with them and with Ukraine.' The Ukrainian president also said the presence of foreign contingents in Ukraine would act as a security guarantee and allow Kyiv to make territorial compromises, which is the first time he has articulated a link between the reassurance force and concessions Kyiv is willing to make in negotiations with Russia. 'It is simply that their presence gives us the opportunity to compromise, when we can say that today our state does not have the strength to take our territories within the borders of 1991,' he said. But Europe and Ukraine are still waiting on strong signals from Mr Trump. Without major US sanctions against Russia, 'I will tell you frankly, it will be very difficult for us', Mr Zelensky said, adding that it would then fall on Europe to step up military aid to Ukraine. In other developments, Russia repatriated more bodies of fallen soldiers in line with an agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, Russian officials said on Saturday, cited by Russian state media. The officials said Ukraine did not return any bodies to Russia on Saturday. Ukraine's Co-ordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed in a statement that Russia had returned 1,200 bodies. Ukraine and Russia also exchanged another group of ill and severely wounded servicemen on Saturday, officials from both countries said, although they did not report the numbers. Mr Zelensky said in a post on X that the Ukrainian servicemen who returned were members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service and the State Transport Special Service. The first round of the staggered exchanges took place on Monday. The agreement to exchange prisoners of war and the bodies of soldiers was the only tangible outcome of the talks in Istanbul on June 2. Continuing a renewed battlefield push along eastern and north-eastern parts of the 600-mile front line, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed on Saturday that its troops had captured another village in the Donetsk region, Zelenyi Kut. Russia launched 58 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight into Saturday, according to the Ukrainian air force, which said its air defences destroyed 23 drones while another 20 were jammed. Russia's Defence Ministry said it shot down 66 Ukrainian drones overnight.
Powys County Times
2 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Zelensky warns oil price surge could help Russia's war effort in Ukraine
A sharp rise in global oil prices after Israeli strikes on Iran will benefit Russia and bolster its military capabilities in the war in Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky has said. The Ukrainian president told journalists in Kyiv that the surge in oil prices threatens Ukraine's position on the battlefield, especially because western allies have not enforced effective price caps on Russian oil exports. 'The strikes led to a sharp increase in the price of oil, which is negative for us,' Mr Zelensky said. 'The Russians are getting stronger due to greater income from oil exports.' Global oil prices rose as much as 7% after Israel and Iran exchanged attacks over the past 48 hours, raising concerns that further escalation could disrupt oil exports from the Middle East. Mr Zelensky said he planned to raise the issue in a conversation with US President Donald Trump. 'In the near future, I will be in contact with the American side, I think with the president, and we will raise this issue,' he said. He also expressed concern that US military aid could be diverted away from Ukraine towards Israel during renewed tensions in the Middle East. 'We would like aid to Ukraine not to decrease because of this,' he said. 'Last time, this was a factor that slowed down aid to Ukraine.' Ukraine's military needs have been sidelined by the US in favour of supporting Israel, Mr Zelensky said, citing a shipment of 20,000 interceptor missiles, designed to counter Iran-made Shahed drones, which had been intended for Ukraine but were redirected to Israel. 'And for us it was a blow,' he said. 'When you face 300 to 400 drones a day, most are shot down or go off course, but some get through. We were counting on those missiles.' An air defence system, Barak-8, promised to Ukraine by Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu was sent to the US for repairs but never delivered to Ukraine, he added. The Ukrainian president conceded that momentum for the Coalition of the Willing, a group of 31 countries which have pledged to strengthen support for Ukraine against Russian aggression, has slowed because of US ambivalence over providing a backstop. 'This situation has shown that Europe has not yet decided for itself that it will be with Ukraine completely if America is not there,' he said. The offer of a foreign troop 'reassurance force' pledged by the coalition is still on the table 'but they need a backstop, as they say, from America' Mr Zelensky said. 'This means that suddenly, if something happens, America will be with them and with Ukraine.' The Ukrainian president also said the presence of foreign contingents in Ukraine would act as a security guarantee and allow Kyiv to make territorial compromises, which is the first time he has articulated a link between the reassurance force and concessions Kyiv is willing to make in negotiations with Russia. 'It is simply that their presence gives us the opportunity to compromise, when we can say that today our state does not have the strength to take our territories within the borders of 1991,' he said. But Europe and Ukraine are still waiting on strong signals from Mr Trump. Without major US sanctions against Russia, 'I will tell you frankly, it will be very difficult for us', Mr Zelensky said, adding that it would then fall on Europe to step up military aid to Ukraine. In other developments, Russia repatriated more bodies of fallen soldiers in line with an agreement reached during peace talks in Istanbul between Russian and Ukrainian delegations, Russian officials said on Saturday, cited by Russian state media. The officials said Ukraine did not return any bodies to Russia on Saturday. Ukraine's Co-ordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War confirmed in a statement that Russia had returned 1,200 bodies. Ukraine and Russia also exchanged another group of ill and severely wounded servicemen on Saturday, officials from both countries said, although they did not report the numbers. Mr Zelensky said in a post on X that the Ukrainian servicemen who returned were members of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the State Border Guard Service and the State Transport Special Service. The first round of the staggered exchanges took place on Monday. The agreement to exchange prisoners of war and the bodies of soldiers was the only tangible outcome of the talks in Istanbul on June 2. Continuing a renewed battlefield push along eastern and north-eastern parts of the 600-mile front line, the Russian Defence Ministry claimed on Saturday that its troops had captured another village in the Donetsk region, Zelenyi Kut. Russia launched 58 drones and decoys at Ukraine overnight into Saturday, according to the Ukrainian air force, which said its air defences destroyed 23 drones while another 20 were jammed. Russia's Defence Ministry said it shot down 66 Ukrainian drones overnight.
