A verdict was handed down in Odesa to a sailor who defended Mariupol and later defected to Russia

A court in Odesa found a former Coast Guard servicemember guilty of treason. According to the investigation, after the occupation of Mariupol, he defected to the enemy, swore allegiance to the Russian Federation, and joined one of the Russian military units.

This is stated in the verdict of the Primorsky District Court of Odesa.

The court established that the man was serving under mobilization as a senior motorman-helmsman on the Coast Guard’s small boat BG-309, holding the military rank of “senior sailor.”

In March 2022, he was granted leave for family reasons but did not return to his military unit after it ended.

Because he failed to report for duty, law enforcement authorities opened a separate criminal case. During the investigation, it was revealed that from April 2022 to November 2023, the man served in the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Battalion, which is part of the Russian Federation’s “Kaskad” operational-combat tactical formation.

Among the key pieces of evidence in the case were video recordings circulated on Telegram channels. In them, the defendant takes an oath of allegiance to the Russian Federation and discusses his service as part of an enemy unit.

One of the recordings stated:

“Currently serving in the battalion, he carries out combat missions as the leader of a wounded evacuation team in an area of active combat operations on the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine,” the video description reads.

In another video recorded by Russian propagandists, the man explained his decision to defect to the enemy.

“Ukraine did not live up to my expectations; it has no loyalty or ideals,” he replied.

The man’s identity in these videos was confirmed by forensic facial recognition analysis. Additionally, he was identified by military personnel who had previously served with him.

During the trial, the defense requested that the defendant be acquitted, arguing that the evidence presented was insufficient and pointing out that the case could not be heard in his absence. The prosecutor, in turn, requested a life sentence with confiscation of property.

The panel of judges found the man guilty under Part 2 of Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison with the confiscation of all his personal property.

The court also ordered the convicted man to pay 15,902 hryvnias and 88 kopecks to the state to cover the costs of the forensic examination.

The case was heard in absentia, as the convicted man’s whereabouts are currently unknown. The verdict will become final if it is not appealed within 30 days.

Ірина Глухова