On May 29, 2026, the Pokrovskyi District Court of Kryvyi Rih delivered a verdict in a war-crimes case involving two russian servicemen who unlawfully detained civilians in Donetsk Oblast in July 2022.

Who was convicted

Maksym Serhiyovych Ryzhov (born November 5, 1991) is a native of Pervomaisk, Luhansk Oblast.

At the time of the crime, he was a senior lieutenant and commander of a motorized rifle company in the motorized rifle battalion of the 6th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 2nd Army Corps, part of the 8th Combined Arms Army of the Southern Military District of the russian federation. According to Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, he was later promoted to major and became a battalion commander.

His call sign was "Steklo"

Stanislav Andriyovych Nesterenko (born January 26, 1992) is a native of Lysychansk, Luhansk Oblast.

He served in the 6th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the russian armed forces. According to Ukraine's Defence Intelligence, he was later promoted to captain and became an artillery platoon commander.

His call sign was "Boomer."

The two servicemen were identified after the russian state-controlled news agency RIA Novosti published a propaganda video on July 15, 2022, showing the detained farmers. Both defendants appeared in the footage. They were later identified by journalists from Free Radio, while the victims recognized them from photographs during the investigation.

Circumstances of the crime

On July 12, 2022, two farmers from the village of Stryapivka in Bakhmut district — a man and his niece — returned to their home, which they had previously abandoned because of the fighting, to collect personal belongings, household appliances and poultry.

As they were leaving the farm, their vehicle and trailer were stopped by armed russian servicemen. According to the case file, Nesterenko, who commanded the unit, ordered the victims to hand over their vehicle keys, documents and communication devices. The vehicle and property were confiscated and placed in a nearby garage.

Later that day, the civilians were forcibly transferred to a vegetable-storage basement in the village of Volodymyrivka, where they were held in inadequate sanitary conditions.

On July 13, Nesterenko and his superior officer, Ryzhov, interrogated the detainees to determine whether they had links to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. According to investigators, during these interrogations the servicemen decided to appropriate the victims' vehicle and property for their own use, despite the absence of any military necessity.

Over the following two weeks, the detainees were held in basements in Volodymyrivka and Pervomaisk together with other civilians.

On July 15, 2022, the russian military forced the detainees to participate in the filming of a report for the state news agency RIA Novosti. In the video, the victims were publicly accused of directing artillery fire for the Armed Forces of Ukraine while posing as civilians.

In late July, the servicemen took the detainees to a field with their faces covered and abandoned them there. After spending five days walking toward Soledar, the civilians were detained again by another russian military unit and taken to the occupation police station in Pervomaisk.

At the police station, the detainees were allowed to receive digital copies of their passports from relatives via a messaging application. Using printed copies bearing stamps of the so-called "lpr", the victims were forcibly deported by rail to St. Petersburg.

After subsequently obtaining their original documents, the Ukrainian citizens managed to return to government-controlled territory via Belarus.

Sentence

Ryzhov and Nesterenko were found guilty of violating the laws and customs of war committed by a group of persons acting in prior conspiracy under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

The court sentenced each defendant in absentia to 12 years' imprisonment.

Because the proceedings were conducted in absentia, the sentence will begin to run from the moment of their actual detention.