MOSCOW, July 23. /TASS/. Russian courts have handed down guilty verdicts against more than 1,200 Ukrainian military personnel for crimes against civilians, the Chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, told TASS in an interview.

"Investigations into 1,132 criminal cases have been completed. Courts have examined 927 cases on their merits, and guilty verdicts have been handed down against 1,209 Ukrainian military personnel. They have been convicted for murdering civilians, cruel and unusual treatment of the civilian population, mercenarism and other crimes," he said.

According to Bastrykin, they have been given long sentences to be served in maximum security facilities. "For committing the most heinous crimes against civilians, 83 military personnel have been sentenced to life imprisonment," he specified.

The head of the Investigative Committee explained that the guilty verdicts will serve as a reliable basis for the issuance of judicial decisions confirming the commission of crimes against humanity by the military and political leadership of Ukraine.