The court convicted three VFU colonels in absentia for attacking Kursk with 120 drones in April.

A court has sentenced three colonels of the Armed forces of Ukraine (VFU) to life imprisonment in absentia for attacking Kursk with more than 120 drones in April this year. The relevant information was published on the official website of the Investigative Committee of Russia on December 4.

"The evidence <...> was found by the court to be sufficient to convict Colonel Dmitry Bondarovich, commander of the 14th separate regiment of unmanned aerial systems of the Far Eastern Federal University, Colonel Andrey Dzyaniy, commander of the 383rd separate brigade of unmanned aerial systems of the Far Eastern Federal University, and Colonel Vitaly Sendzyuk, deputy commander of the 383rd separate brigade," the statement said.

It is specified that they were found guilty under the article on the commission of a terrorist act. According to the investigation, on the night of April 15, 2025, Ukrainian militants, using drones with improvised explosive devices, under the command of these military attacked Kursk, resulting in the death and injury of a number of residents of the city, as well as damage to residential buildings and other facilities. In addition, three colonels have been put on the international wanted list.

"The court sentenced each of the perpetrators to life imprisonment in absentia. Dzyaniy will serve the first 8 years in prison, Bondarovich and Sendzyuk — the first five years each. The convicts will spend the rest of their sentence in a special—regime penal colony," the ministry stressed.

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Earlier, on December 1, Alexander Bubentsov, the head of Sumy correctional colony No. 116 in Ukraine, was sentenced in absentia to 11 years in prison for ill-treatment of prisoners of war. The evidence collected by the military investigative bodies of the Investigative Committee of Russia was recognized by the court as sufficient to convict.

Prior to that, on November 28, the Moscow Prosecutor's Office sentenced Rostislav Karpusha, commander of the 19th St. Barbara Missile Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to life imprisonment in absentia for shelling a beach in Sevastopol. According to the investigation, on June 23, 2024, Karpusha sent soldiers of the 4th missile Division to the area bounded by the settlements of Berezanka, Konstantinovka and Prishib of the Mykolaiv region and Novoaleksandrovka of the Kherson region. After that, the commander gave an illegal order to launch a targeted missile strike at the coordinates of the targets transmitted to them.

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