The so-called "court" of the Russian occupation administration in the temporarily occupied territory in Luhansk region of Ukraine sentenced the Ukrainian human rights defender and journalist Maksym Butkevych to 13 years in prison, as well as two other citizens of Ukraine to different terms of imprisonment.

The fake trial staged in the Russian Federation was intended to legalize yet another political murder of Ukrainian citizens. The announced sentences are illegal, null and void.

We call on the international community to condemn the mentioned trial of Maksym Butkevych and two other citizens of Ukraine, to demand from the Russian Federation their release, liberation of other Ukrainians illegally imprisoned in the temporarily occupied territories and in Russia, as well as to take effective measures to counter Russia's aggression against Ukraine.