A court in Russian-occupied Ukraine, supported by Moscow, sentenced a Colombian individual to 19 years in prison on Wednesday for his participation in the Ukrainian military.

The Kremlin has detained several foreign combatants captured by its forces in eastern Ukraine, treating them as mercenaries rather than as prisoners of war, thus circumventing the protections afforded by the Geneva Convention.

According to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office, the Supreme Court in the Donetsk region, under Russian control, sentenced a man identified as Oscar Mauricio Blanco Lopez to nearly two decades behind bars.

The report stated that the 42-year-old had traveled to Ukraine in May 2024 to join the Ukrainian armed forces and was subsequently captured by Russian troops in December 2025.

The court released footage of him appearing stoic and emotionless behind bars while the sentence was announced.

In a related case last week, the same court imposed a 13-year prison term on a British national for fighting alongside Ukraine.