Semen Zabairachnyi

Served in the Ukrainian Aidar battalion as a drone operator. While being in the occupied territory of Donetsk region of Ukraine, he was captured as a prisoner of war in the spring of 2022. He was forced to star in a propaganda video. He was charged under a number of articles of the Criminal Code of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic. The investigation considered him one of the organisers of the activities of a terrorist organisation. After the Russian Federation declared the DPR part of its territory, the charges were reclassified in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Zabairachnyi was accused of participation in the activities of a terrorist organisation, forcible seizure of power and receiving training for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities. Human rights activists note that he is a prisoner of war, so he should not have been held criminally liable for actually participating in hostilities, and in addition, consider the charges absurd. On 17 October 2025, Zabairachnyi was sentenced to 20 years in a strict regime penal colony.