Three mercenaries fighting in Donbas against Ukraine convicted in Italy

"Antonio Cataldo (35, born in Nola, the province of Naples), Olsi Krutani (39, an Albanian who moved to Milan for a long time) and Vladimir Verbitchii (26, a Moldovan who has been living in Parma for a long time) have become the first defendants in Italy who were punished for being mercenaries of Moscow," the report reads.

It notes that Cataldo and Krutani were each sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, whereas Verbitchii to one year and four months. The first two were given longer prison terms because they were also found guilty of recruiting.

According to the prosecution supported by Prosecutor Federico Manotti, a member of the Anti-Terrorist Office of the Prosecutor's Office of Genoa, three convicted persons were paid for their "service" in the ranks of Russian armed forces in Donbas in 2017 -2018.

All the three were detained in Italy in July-August last year.