Shvets was found guilty of murder motivated by hatred and political and ideological enmity and ill-treatment of the civilian population, the press service of the Main Military Prosecutor’s Office told Shvets.
According to the Investigative Committee’s investigation, from March 19 to 25, 2022, Shvets, along with other Ukrainian servicemen, was temporarily housed in one of Mariupol’s high-rise buildings in a position codenamed “Thanos”. At that moment, about 250 meters from his position, a man and a woman in civilian clothes with white bandages on their sleeves were walking towards the square.
From the convict’s testimony it follows that, in his opinion, civilians who take a pro-Russian position and support a special military operation, as well as people who stand in solidarity with civilians who suffered and died at the hands of Ukrainian military personnel. , wear white armbands.
In this sense, he felt hostility towards them and decided that if he saw them again, he would kill the man. After some time, the couple began to return. When they were near the pharmacy, Shvets took an AK-74 and shot the man twice. The man and woman fell to the ground, then the man rose to his feet. Shvets fired 3 more shots at her, the woman abruptly got up and ran behind the pharmacy building.
Then Shvets saw that three civilians without bandages approached the man lying on the ground and took out his body behind the pharmacy. Since the people did not have white armbands, he did not shoot at them. From April 10 to 17, 2022, Shvets, along with other “Azovs”, hiding in the dungeons of the Azovstal plant, learned from their colleagues that in a few days they would have to surrender. In that sense, he doused his machine gun with gasoline and set it on fire.
As noted in the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, Shvets’s guilt was confirmed by a body of evidence, including the testimony of witnesses, as well as his confession.
The court agreed with the position of the prosecutor, a representative of the United Group of Troops (Forces) military prosecutor’s office, and sentenced Shvets to 22 years in prison in a strict regime correctional colony.
