Ukrainian ambassador to Italy: Markiv trial was Russian special operation
Ukrainian Ambassador to Italy Yevhen Perelygin said that the case against the Ukrainian National Guard commander Vitalii Markiv was a “Russian special operation, organized to discredit the Ukrainian opposition of Russian aggression,” Eurointegration reports, citing Formiche.net.
“I am convinced that the entire trial against, as well as the recent verdict of the Pavia jury, is proof of a large-scale Russian special operation, organized in Italy to discredit the Ukrainian opposition of Russian aggression,” said Perelygin.
“Of course, in order to prove this theory, we need irrefutable evidence, but if a jury ruins the fate and life of a person, a defender of our Homeland, in the complete absence of proof, then who can dispute my opinion, which arises from many factors and signs that attest to the political nature of the trial against Vitalii Markiv?” the ambassador added.
He observed that, apart from the political prisoners in Russia, Ukraine now has a political prisoner in Italy.
On 12 July, the city court in Pavia, Italy, sentenced Markiv to 24 years in prison for his alleged involvement in the murder of the Italian photojournalist Andrea Rocchelli in the Donbas. The severity of the sentence surprised even the prosecutor, who had requested 17 years.
Ukraine has appealed the verdict and will have the Ukrainian citizen acquitted. President Volodymyr Zelensky has instructed the Foreign Ministry and Prosecutor General’s Office to immediately take action to have Markiv brought back to Ukraine.