FSB agent in Odesa sentenced to 15 years

The Peresypskyi District Court of Odesa found a local resident guilty of high treason and sentenced him to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

According to the Court Reporter publication, citing the court's verdict, the man drove his car through the checkpoints on the bypass road at an unspecified time and filmed the deployment and equipment of the checkpoints with a dashcam. He kept this recording on a card until he made contact with representatives of the Russian Federation, and then handed it over to the Russians.

With his help, he hoped to head the Department of Housing and Communal Services in Odesa region after the occupation. The accused did not admit his guilt. He claimed that he had passed the photos and videos from the dashcam to a person with whom another man had arranged a meeting, saying that it was an FSB officer. However, the memory card was allegedly empty because he had deleted everything from it. He could not explain how the recordings he had made appeared there, only assuming that they had been given to him by an acquaintance to whom he had previously given them. The defendant questioned the identity of the witness, because, allegedly, it was not the man to whom he had handed over a pack of cigarettes with an empty flash drive. However, the witness's personal data was checked and confirmed by a judge who has access to information classified as secret.

The man told the court that he did not support the Russian aggression against Ukraine, considered himself a patriot of his city and absolutely innocent. He did tell the witness about his desire to do something, but he believes that saying it does not mean doing it. Therefore, he asked to be acquitted.

The court was critical of the accused's claims that he was introduced to the applicant by some other man whose name he mentioned. The case file does not confirm the involvement of this person. This person is never mentioned in the NISS records. In addition, this contradicts the testimony of the applicant, who said that the first meeting and acquaintance with the accused was accidental and not planned.

Кирило Бойко