A woman from Odesa was sentenced to 15 years in prison for passing military coordinates to Russia

The Khadzhibey District Court of Odessa found a local resident guilty of treason and sentenced her to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

As noted in the court’s verdict, in February 2025, the defendant twice sent geographic coordinates via Telegram to an unidentified employee of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, explaining that Ukrainian military personnel might be located there.

During the court hearing, the defendant did not admit guilt to the charges brought against her, stating that she had not sent any messages from her cell phone and that the case had been fabricated. She also explained that on January 7, 2025, her apartment was searched by officers of the Security Service of Ukraine, who broke into the apartment, treated her very roughly, and beat her. The search was conducted without a lawyer present, and during the search, SBU agents placed a Kyivstar SIM card in a jewelry box in her apartment. Nothing illegal was found during the search. After the search, she was detained; she was treated brutally, threatened, and humiliated. She was later released from the SBU premises and returned home, but forgot the SIM card because she was in a state of distress.

Later, during a search of her apartment, the aforementioned Kyivstar SIM card was seized. The woman insisted that she was being accused without grounds. She did not pass on any information, nor did she engage in any correspondence related to the charges. She did not throw away or destroy the SIM card because she had forgotten about it. She insisted that such correspondence from her phone could have been sent by SBU employees, and on these grounds, she requested that the court order a forensic examination. She asked to be acquitted and released from custody.

However, the court ruled that the planting of the SIM card had not been proven and noted that five months had passed between the two searches, so the woman could have disposed of the allegedly planted card but had not done so.

Кирило Бойко