Armenian mercenary Armen Balyan, who was arrested in Russia in October 2024, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a press briefing Wednesday.

“Russian courts continue to sentence Ukrainian neo-Nazis. Captured Ukrainian armed forces’ militants have received long prison terms for crimes committed against civilians and Russian servicemen in Kursk Region. Oleg Artyukh received 26 years, Aleksandr Mokryenko 17 years, Vitaly Melitskin and Vyacheslav Shchurov 16 years each, Taras Milyan, Vladimir Yeroshchenko, Dmytro Semenchuk, Bogdan Bodak, and Artyom Kovalchuk 15 years each, and Aleksandr Babich 14.5 years. In March 2022, Azov members Anatoly Kamishenko and Yevgeny Vintovkin were sentenced to 22 years for the premeditated killing of civilians in Mariupol,” Zakharova said.

She added that “legionnaires” from the UK and Argentina, William Page and Sebastian Caceres, were sentenced in absentia to 14 and 6 years, respectively.