Eight men sentenced to life in prison by Russian courts over the 2022 attack on the Kerch Bridge have appealed for their release, saying they had no knowledge of the Kyiv-planned operation.
In a joint letter published on Tuesday by Russia’s Memorial rights group, the men asked Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to include them in any future prisoner exchanges linked to peace talks.
The blast on the bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia killed five people and caused severe damage. Built after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, the Kerch Bridge has long been seen as a powerful symbol of President Putin’s ambitions. It has since been hit by two more major attacks, in 2023 and 2025, both carried out by Ukrainian forces as part of efforts to resist Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The convicted men, who are from Russia, Ukraine and Armenia, said they were now being labelled as terrorists and condemned to life behind bars. In their letter, they described their sentences as a slow and degrading death in Russian prisons.
Several of the men were linked to the transport of construction materials later found to contain hidden explosives. They have consistently maintained they were unaware of what they were carrying. Human rights groups have backed this claim, saying the men were carrying out routine work. Ukrainian officials have also said the operation relied on people who were unaware of its true purpose.
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