Dzerzhynsky City Court in Donetsk region has sentenced three militants of the so-called "DPR" in absentia to life imprisonment for the killing of a 16-year-old resident of Kramatorsk, Stepan Chubenko, in 2014 for his active pro-Ukrainian position, the press service of the Donetsk Regional Prosecutor's Office has reported.

"Dzerzhynsky City Court fully supported the position of the prosecutor's office and sentenced three defendants to life imprisonment. Each of the convicts is obliged to pay UAH 1 million to the mother of the murdered young man," the report says.

According to the prosecutor's office, on July 22-28, 2014, a group of unidentified individuals, in preliminary collusion with members of illegal armed groups – Pohodin, Moskaliov, Sukhomlynov - illegally deprived the 16-year-old resident of Kramatorsk of his liberty. On July 28, the three mentioned militants killed the kidnapped teenager.

Subsequently, the body of the victim was delivered from the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region to Kramatorsk.