A Russian court has sentenced Croatian citizen Vjekoslav Prebeg in absentia to 23 years in prison for fighting as a mercenary on the side of Ukraine, according to the judgement.

He was sentenced in absentia because he was exchanged as a Russian prisoner of war in September 2022 and returned to Croatia, reports the news site Dnevnik.hr.

Prebeg, along with Britons John Harding and Andrew Hill and Swede Mathias Gustavsson, was found guilty of being a mercenary and having undergone “training for terrorist activities”. Another Briton, Dylan Healy, was convicted of “involvement in mercenary work”.

The prosecution had demanded 21 years in prison for Prebeg, but the court imposed a two-year longer sentence, Kommersant reported.

“After completing the necessary training, they took part in the armed conflict as mercenaries on the side of the Ukrainian armed forces on the territory of the Donetsk People’s Republic,” the prosecution said.