An Indonesian court has sentenced a Ukrainian man to life in prison for his role in a large-scale Russian-Ukrainian drug ring operating on the tourist island of Bali.
Thai authorities arrested Roman Nazarenko, who was listed as a fugitive by Interpol, at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in December as he attempted to flee to Dubai, then extradited him to Indonesia.
Nazarenko had spent seven months on the run after police raided a holiday villa in Bali in May 2024, finding a laboratory in the basement used to grow marijuana and produce a precursor of the synthetic drug ecstasy.
During Nazarenko’s trial at Denpasar District Court on Thursday, prosecutors argued he was one of the masterminds of a drug ring.
The Ukrainian claimed he was tricked into joining the ring and sat silently as the panel of three judges handed down a life sentence.
“There is no reason to forgive or justify the defendant; he deserves to be punished commensurate with what he has done,” presiding Judge Eni Martiningrum said.
“His crime could damage the mental state of the young generation.”
Marthinus Hukom, the head of Indonesia’s National Narcotics Agency, said there is a growing issue of Russians and Ukrainians collaborating in crime rings on Indonesia’s most famous holiday island.
“This is a very unique phenomenon,” Hukom said.
“Two countries that are at war, but here in Bali, their citizens are partners in crime, engaging in illicit drug trafficking.”
Authorities also arrested two Ukrainian brothers, Mykyta Volovod and Ivan Volovod, and a Russian man, Konstantin Krutz, during the earlier raid on the villa. The same court sentenced each of the men to 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors argued that the Volovod brothers were the drug producers, while Krutz sold their product.
Prosecutors have also identified a Russian man, Oleg Tkachuck, who they believe to be the drug ring’s overall mastermind. He remains at large.
According to the Volovod brothers, Tkachuck paid them $30,000 in September 2023 to install equipment at the villa to produce hydroponic marijuana and mephedrone – used in the production of ecstasy pills.
According to prosecutors, Nazarenko recruited the other convicted men for Tkachuck, as well as provided equipment and marijuana seeds, and oversaw operations of the lab.
Nazarenko argued in court that he had been tricked by Tkachuck and expressed remorse for his role in the drug operation.
Indonesia has some of the strictest drug laws in the region, with drug smugglers sometimes executed by firing squad.
Bali, meanwhile, has become a magnet for thousands of people from Russia and Ukraine fleeing the horrors of war since President Vladimir Putin launched his full-scale invasion in early 2022.
Russian visitors, in particular, more than tripled between 2022 and 2024 – growing from 57,860 to 180,215 last year.
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