ROSTOV-ON-DON, Russia — A military court in southern Russia sentenced a Ukrainian special forces soldier to 20 years in prison after he was captured during a covert mission in Crimea, federal prosecutors announced on Tuesday.
Oleksandr Lyubas, a member of Ukraine’s elite military intelligence unit, was apprehended in October during a daring amphibious operation in which Ukrainian soldiers reportedly used jet skis to infiltrate the Crimean peninsula, which has been under Russian control since its annexation in 2014.
According to Russian state media, the operation included the unfurling of a Ukrainian flag and the symbolic declaration that “Crimea will be Ukrainian.”
Lyubas was detained by Russian forces after reportedly falling into the water from a jet ski during the operation. His capture has been used by Moscow as further evidence of Ukraine’s ongoing efforts to challenge Russian sovereignty over the peninsula.
The Southern Military District Court in Rostov-on-Don found Lyubas guilty of terrorism, arms smuggling, and illegally crossing the Russian border.
The court handed down a 20-year sentence to be served in a maximum-security prison. Despite the lengthy sentence, Lyubas has continued to assert his innocence, insisting that he should be treated as a prisoner of war rather than a criminal.
“I’m a simple soldier and should be considered a prisoner of war under international law,” Lyubas said in court, as quoted by Memorial, a Russian human rights organization.
His defense team has argued that Lyubas was simply following military orders and that his status as a Ukrainian serviceman entitled him to protections under the Geneva Conventions.
However, Russian prosecutors framed the case within the context of terrorism, stressing that the soldier’s actions directly threatened the security and stability of the region.
The case has drawn attention to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, with Crimea remaining a focal point of geopolitical tension.
Since the annexation of the peninsula by Russia in 2014, Ukraine has repeatedly vowed to regain control of the territory. Military operations and covert missions, such as the one involving Lyubas, have underscored Kyiv’s commitment to reclaiming Crimea, despite the risks involved.
The sentence has been met with outrage in Kyiv, where officials condemned the court’s decision and reiterated calls for the international community to recognize Lyubas as a prisoner of war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously stated that all captured Ukrainian soldiers must be returned under the terms of international law and has urged global leaders to pressure Russia to comply with established wartime protocols.
In Russia, however, the case has been used to bolster domestic narratives about Ukraine’s attempts to destabilize the region. State media coverage of Lyubas’s capture and trial emphasized the threat posed by Ukrainian forces and portrayed the sentencing as a victory for Russian security forces.
As the conflict drags on, the fate of captured soldiers like Lyubas remains uncertain. The geopolitical stakes in Crimea continue to fuel both military and diplomatic tensions between Moscow and Kyiv, with no immediate resolution in sight.