“A Russian-controlled court in the Zaporizhia region sentenced a 34-year-old resident of the Yakymiv district to 15 years in a high-security prison on charges of treason and espionage, claiming that he passed data on the movement and deployment of Russian troops to Ukrainian intelligence”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
Criminal cases under the article on treason are instituted only against citizens of Russia, and on espionage – only against foreigners. In this case, the man was convicted under two articles.
According to the investigation, in May 2023, the man recorded on his mobile phone the movement of trucks with personnel of the Russian Guard and transferred the data obtained along with the coordinates of the equipment to the e-mail of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.
The Russian prosecutor’s office in occupied Crimea clarifies that he filmed the screen on his phone camera, where he viewed recordings from external surveillance cameras. The investigation qualified these actions as espionage, since at that time he had only Ukrainian citizenship.
Allegedly, after receiving a Russian passport in September 2023, the man again sent to the same address data on the location of personnel and military equipment of the Russian Guard in the Yakymiv district. The case file states that this could have caused fire damage to Russian units.
In addition, according to the indictment, from September 2023 to February 2024, the convict sent 10 transfers in the amount of 6,421 rubles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine through the application of a Ukrainian bank.
The investigation considered these actions under the article about high treason. The court found the man guilty under a set of articles; in addition to the main punishment of 15 years in the colony, the man was sentenced to one year of probation.
Comments from the convict or his defense are not available.
Russia occupied a large part of the Zaporizhzhia region in the early days of the full-scale invasion in February-March 2022. Moscow considers the entire Zaporizhzhia region, including the regional center, which it has never controlled, to be part of the territory of the Russian Federation. Russia persecutes local residents who do not agree with the occupation of their homeland.