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May. 26, 2016 | 08:41 PM

Ukrainians get long jail terms for Chechnya war killings

Agence France Presse

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Summary

A Russian court Thursday jailed two Ukrainians for up to 22 years for fighting in the 1990s Chechnya war in a controversial case that their lawyers said involved torture.

The North Caucasus region fought two wars with Moscow but is now ruled by a pro-Kremlin figure, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Their lawyer Ilya Novikov also represented Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, who was freed on Wednesday in a prisoner swap with two alleged Russian soldiers who fought in eastern Ukraine.

Russia says the duo were fighting Russian soldiers as part of a squad from the Ukrainian nationalist organisation UNA-UNSO.

The case reportedly rests on the testimony of a single Ukrainian who is already serving a long sentence in a Russian jail.