The Southern District Military Court, in a permanent judicial presence in Donetsk, sentenced 32-year-old Nikita Kucher** to 14 years in prison for participating in a 'terrorist community', the court's press service told 'Mediazona'***. Kucher must spend the first three years of his sentence in prison, and the remaining time in a maximum-security colony.
According to the investigation, Kucher fought on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as part of the 48th separate assault volunteer battalion named after Noman Çelebicihan, a Crimean Tatar armed formation of Ukraine, which the Supreme Court of Russia recognized as a terrorist organization in June 2022.
Kucher is a native of the town of Chudne in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine, and in February 2025, Russian authorities included him in the list of 'terrorists and extremists'.
In a video published by the pro-Russian YouTube channel SaveUkraine1313 in January 2025, Kucher says he was forced to go to the front from a colony in Ukraine but does not specify exact dates. According to the man, he did not want to fight and did not know how to handle weapons. 'I say, I have never held a machine gun in my life—I don't even know how to shoot,' he says in the video.
The Southern District Military Court also sentenced 48-year-old Ukrainian citizen Denis Demyanenko to 19 years in prison for participating in a 'terrorist organization' and 'training terrorism', 'Mediazona' reported. He must spend the first three years of his sentence in prison, and the remaining time in a maximum-security colony.
According to the prosecution, in June 2024, Demyanenko joined the Ukrainian 24th assault battalion 'Aidar' and underwent military training in the city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region. After that, he fought against the Russian army as a rifleman. In June of the same year, the Ukrainian was captured.
* Recognized as a 'terrorist' organization in Russia.
** Included in the list of 'terrorists and extremists'.
*** Recognized as a 'foreign agent' in Russia