Crimean man joined the Marines to fight against Ukraine and was sentenced

Thanks to the evidence provided by the Sumy Regional Prosecutor's Office, the court convicted a 30-year-old resident of the temporarily occupied Crimea. He was found guilty of high treason for defecting to the enemy.

This was reported by the regional prosecutor's office.

The court sentenced the resident of the Perekop district of Crimea to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property. Prosecutors of the Sumy Regional Prosecutor's Office fully proved the defendant's guilt of treason.

The investigation established that in February 2023, the man voluntarily signed a contract with the Russian Marine Corps (810th Separate Brigade). At first, he served as a rifleman and took part in battles against Ukrainian defenders in the Kherson and Donetsk directions, later being promoted to squad commander.

In August 2024, the traitor's unit was redeployed to the Kursk region of the Russian Federation to deter the Ukrainian offensive, where he was soon captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The pre-trial investigation in this case was conducted by SBU investigators.

Khadzhybeyskyi District Court of Odesa passed a verdict in absentia against Oleksandr Kobets, who headed the occupation administration of Kherson. He was found guilty of committing crimes under articles on high treason and collaboration.

According to the investigation, in March 2022, he left Ukraine for Slovakia, but in early April he returned to the enemy-held part of the Kherson region, using the administrative border with the occupied Crimea. There, he entered into a sinister conspiracy with representatives of the Russian armed forces, including the occupation commander of the region, to agree on the terms of his ''leadership'' of the city under the cover of Russian bayonets.

The main pressure was exerted on the legitimate self-government bodies and employees of municipal institutions, who were forced to obey the new ''authorities. The process of seizing power took the form of direct military intervention: On April 25, 2022, armed Russian special forces seized the building of the Kherson City Council, announcing to the staff that the administration had come under Russian control, and the next day Kobets was officially introduced as the head of the occupation administration.

Катерина Глушко