“There will be a trial without him”: Ukraine for the first time sentences a serviceman while he is in Russian captivity

**Translation:**

Volodymyr Koliada is the first Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman to be convicted in Ukraine while being held in Russian captivity. He was sentenced to eight years in prison for desertion committed at the beginning of the full-scale war.

This was reported by Slidstvo.Info.

In July 2024, Volodymyr Koliada was sentenced to eight years in prison for desertion. At the time, he was being held captive in a Russian penal colony in Altai Krai.

“This is the first case where a serviceman returns from captivity and already has a court sentence in Ukraine,” said Olena Bieliach­kova, an adviser to Ukraine’s military ombudsman.

Koliada, a native of Bakhmut, had served in the 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade since 2019. He viewed his military service as a job, as he had worked as a welder in his hometown.

After the full-scale invasion began, in May 2022, he was supposed to deploy with his fellow servicemen to Kurakhove in Donetsk region. Instead, he left his military unit.

“I wasn’t a military man. I didn’t consider my job military service. I can dig, build something, but I never saw myself holding a weapon,” Koliada said.

By August 2022, fighting for Bakhmut had begun. Despite repeated calls from local authorities for residents to evacuate, Koliada remained in the city. When Wagner fighters entered his neighborhood, he hid in a basement.

“When Wagner had encircled the city, there were seven of us in the basement. When they entered, we didn’t even realize they were Wagner troops,” Koliada said.

On March 23, Wagner fighters took 14 people out of the city. Koliada was among them. During interrogations and so-called filtration, the Russians discovered that he was a Ukrainian serviceman. He was then sent to a penal colony with other Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Several months later, propaganda videos appeared online showing Koliada describing how Wagner fighters allegedly protected civilians in Bakhmut, while “Ukrainians were shooting them in the back.” According to Koliada’s son, Serhii, who was also serving in the 54th Brigade, these videos drew the attention of Ukrainian security services.

“After the first video, counterintelligence working with our brigade summoned me for questioning because my father was in captivity,” Serhii said.

According to lawyer Vasyl Harashchak, the circumstances under which the video was recorded in occupied territory are being examined for possible signs of criminal offenses against Ukraine’s national security.

“Cases can be different. The circumstances under which a video was recorded in occupied territory can also play a role, but the information about how the person ended up there is also taken into account. The pre-trial investigation body then decides which article the investigation will proceed under,” Harashchak added.

In July 2023, the State Bureau of Investigation launched a pre-trial investigation into Koliada’s desertion. According to his lawyer, unlike unauthorized absence from a military unit (AWOL), desertion is a particularly serious criminal offense.

“Unauthorized absence from a military unit implies that the person still intends to return to military service. When we talk about desertion, the person has the ultimate goal of evading military service and not returning to it,” Harashchak explained.

In response to a request from Slidstvo.Info, the Luhansk Specialized Prosecutor’s Office for Defense of the Eastern Region said that during the trial, Koliada was held at Donetsk Correctional Colony No. 124 in occupied territory. At the same time, authorities were unable to establish his status or the grounds for his detention there, so they decided to try him in absentia.

According to Serhii Koliada, he told the SBI investigator and prosecutor handling the case that his father was in captivity, but the prosecutor told him that “there will be a trial even without him.”

“This case is quite unusual. More often, in absentia trials are held against Russians and collaborators when they are hiding somewhere in occupied territory. That is the main practice here. This case stands out from the usual pattern,” explained human rights lawyer and Strasbourg University PhD Oleksandra Steshenko.

In July 2024, the court found Koliada guilty of desertion and sentenced him to eight years in prison. At the time, he was more than 3,000 kilometers from Ukraine, in a Russian penal colony in Altai Krai.

At the same time, according to Steshenko, an in absentia trial was legally possible in this situation. Ukrainian criminal procedure law provides for proceedings without the accused, and the procedure itself does not violate Ukraine’s international obligations concerning the right to a fair trial.

Koliada learned that a Ukrainian court had already sentenced him after he returned from captivity on February 5, 2026. Twenty days after the exchange, he was taken first to a pre-trial detention center and then to a penal colony.

Koliada now says he regrets his decision to desert and remain in Bakhmut after the city had come under threat of occupation.