He replaced his prison robe with Russian camouflage: a traitor was sentenced in Mykolaiv

He began his journey behind bars in a Russian colony and ended up in the dock in Ukraine. The man convicted of drugs agreed to fight for the Russian army in exchange for his freedom.

This was reported by Intent with reference to the verdict of the Central District Court of Mykolaiv.

According to the case file, in 2025, the man was serving a sentence in a penal colony in Russia for a crime related to drug trafficking. While in prison, he received an offer to sign a contract with the Russian armed forces and agreed to it. At the end of July 2025, the man officially signed a contract with a motorized rifle regiment of the Russian army and was promoted to the rank of private.

After that, he was sent to military training grounds in the temporarily occupied territory of Donetsk region. At first, he underwent military training near Mariupol, and later he was transferred to another training ground near Bakhmut to continue his training.

In September 2025, he was sent as a Russian military to the combat zone in Donetsk region. According to the investigation, he was part of an assault group, received orders from Russian commanders and performed tasks near Kostiantynivka. The man also monitored the positions of the Ukrainian military, stayed in the occupied territory with weapons and carried out orders from the command of the army of the aggressor state.

A few days after he went to the positions, his participation in the hostilities stopped. He said that after signing the contract, he received a Russian military uniform, weapons, and underwent training at training grounds, and was later sent to the combat zone, where he was captured by the Ukrainian military.

As a result, the court sentenced him to 15 years in prison with confiscation of all his property for high treason and voluntary participation in the armed forces of the aggressor state.

Also in May, a man was convicted in Mykolaiv of treason for transmitting data about the Ukrainian Armed Forces to a Russian representative via Telegram. In court, the accused did not admit to treason. He explained that he started communicating with his Telegram contact out of fear for his wife, who is currently serving.

Анна Бальчінос