OREANDA-NEWS A court in the Russian Federation sentenced in absentia to 14 years in a high-security colony and declared an international wanted list for American Justin Mishler, who took part in hostilities on the side of Ukraine.

"The Supreme Court of the Donetsk People's Republic has passed a verdict in absentia in a criminal case against Justin Michler, a 32-year-old citizen of the United States of America. He was found guilty under Part 3 of Article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (participation of a mercenary in an armed conflict)," the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation said on Monday.

As stated in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, in 2022, "Mishler arrived at the permanent deployment point of the International Legion on the territory of Ukraine and voluntarily joined it as a mercenary."

"Mishler was provided with personal firearms, ammunition, uniforms and special equipment. On the territory of the training bases of the International Legion, he underwent military training aimed at obtaining skills in handling combat weapons, as well as in the field of strategy and tactics of participation in armed conflict," the ministry said.

According to the UK, after completing the training, Mishler "took direct part in the fighting on the territory of the DPR on the side of the Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, systematically receiving financial remuneration for this."

They added that the American was put on the international wanted list.