The court found guilty and sentenced to real prison terms six fighters, who stormed the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and were captured, among them – previously convicted of other crimes.

"Thanks to the evidence base of the Security Service, six more traitors, who joined the occupation forces of the Russian Federation and fought against Ukraine, received real terms of imprisonment. Among them are former criminal prisoners and fighters from the assault units of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation called Storm Z," the SBU said on the Telegram channel on Thursday.

According to the SBU, the lawbreakers were captured by Ukrainian defenders during the fighting in the areas of Avdiyivka and Bakhmut.

Based on the evidence gathered, the court found the lawbreakers guilty of high treason, collaboration, participation in paramilitary or armed formations not provided for by law, and sentenced two to 12 years in prison, and another four to 15.

The SBU clarifies that at the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, the criminals joined the units of the Southern Military District of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.

"One of the convicts is a resident of Makiyivka, who entered the 113th infantry regiment of the mobilization reserve of the aggressor country. As part of it, he was engaged in the arrangement of roadblocks and other fortifications in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region. Then he was appointed to the post of squad commander and transferred to the eastern front to deter the counter-offensive operations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," the report says.

Two more fighters, as reported in the SBU, were appointed to the positions of shooters in the battalion Storm Z, they participated in the battles in Zaporizhia direction, and then in Donetsk region.

According to the SBU, the fourth criminal wrote a "pardon application" from the occupation "Toretsk correctional colony ‘DPR’ and was assigned to the enemy unit Vostok."

Another fighter "mobilized" into the ranks of the occupiers, where he received the position of assistant grenade launcher, and after completing a training course, he was sent to combat positions in the area of the village of Pisky near Avdiyivka. The sixth person involved signed a contract with the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation and joined the ranks of the 114th separate motorized rifle brigade from the Russian Federation, which was involved in storming the positions of Ukrainian troops in Pokrovsky district of Donetsk region.

The investigation was conducted by SBU officers in Poltava, Donetsk and Luhansk regions under the procedural leadership of the prosecutor's office.