‘Donetsk Court’ Sentences Georgian Guram Chichinadze to 12.5 Years for Fighting on Ukraine’s Side

The de facto supreme court of the Russia-occupied Donetsk region sentenced Georgian national Guram Chichinadze to twelve and a half years in a “maximum-security penal colony” for fighting on Ukraine’s side “as a mercenary,” the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office reported on November 9.

Russian prosecutors say that Chichinadze signed a “military service contract” with the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade in October 2022 at the brigade’s headquarters in the Odesa region, where he was “provided with a uniform, a body armor vest, communication equipment and a personal weapon.”

The statement said that Chichinadze “underwent military training in the Mykolaiv region, and, as a mercenary, he performed internal and guard duty and participated in combat operations” against Russian armed forces.

The Office said that Chichinadze left the combat zone for Kyiv in November 2022, claiming he received “nearly 400,000 rubles” in payment. The report said that he returned to the front in February 2024, “serving as a machine-gunner in the 115th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” He was reportedly captured by Russian servicemen later that month.

Russian-backed authorities in occupied Donetsk have previously handed down similar sentences to several other Georgian nationals who joined Ukraine’s defense following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

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• 18/06/2026 – ‘Donetsk Court’ Sentences Georgian Mirza Vanadze to 14 Years in Absentia on Mercenary Charges
• 16/06/2026 – ‘Donetsk Court’ Sentences Georgian Fighter to 14 Years in Absentia on Mercenary Charges
• 25/03/2026 – De Facto Donetsk Court Sentences Georgian Fighter in Absentia to 14 Years