A native of Odesa region was sentenced to 15 years in prison for serving in the enemy army

The court found the native of Odesa region guilty of high treason and collaboration for his service in the Russian army. After leaving Ukraine, he signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense and performed tasks in the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

This was reported by the Court Reporter.

The convict is a native of Berezyne village, Odesa region. After the outbreak of a full-scale war, he left Ukraine through third countries and ended up in Russia. In February 2024, he signed a contract with the Russian Ministry of Defense in one of the military enlistment offices in Moscow region.

He was enlisted in a military unit as a driver and given the call sign "Red". From mid-February 2024, he was in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where he was engaged in the arrangement of engineering and fortification structures on the front lines. On June 20, 2024, while performing a combat mission near Verkhnekamianske, he was captured by the Ukrainian military.

The defendant did not admit his guilt in court. He claimed that he had signed the contract with the Russian army under pressure: a prohibited item was allegedly planted in his bag and he was blackmailed with criminal liability. According to him, after leaving Ukraine on July 26, 2023, he lived in Russia, received a Russian passport, worked in Moscow and did not plan to fight. The man explained that he had health problems, was a religious man and did not want to participate in hostilities.

He also claimed that he was promised not to be sent to the front against Ukraine, but was later sent to positions without weapons. According to his version, he deliberately fell behind the unit in order to voluntarily surrender to the Ukrainian military.

However, the court was critical of these explanations. The panel of judges concluded that the man, being fit for military service, deliberately left Ukraine during the war, entered the aggressor state and voluntarily joined its armed forces. The court recognized his arguments as an attempt to avoid responsibility and found that he had acted intentionally, intending to participate in hostilities on the side of the enemy. The court sentenced the man to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

Also in early February, a former special forces intelligence officer was exposed in Odesa for spying for Russia, photographing checkpoints and transmitting data on military exercises. The court found him guilty of high treason.

Анна Бальчінос