Host of the occupiers' channel 'Crimea 24' convicted for open war propaganda

A Ukrainian court has handed down a verdict in absentia to a Crimean media worker who collaborates with occupation resources. The defendant was found guilty of collaboration and public justification of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

This was reported by the Voice of Crimea.

On February 6, 2026, a verdict was passed in absentia, according to which the defendant was found guilty under two articles of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. These are collaboration activities under Article 111-1(6), as well as justification and recognition of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine with the use of the media under Article 436-2(3).

For the crimes committed, the propagandist was sentenced to 11 years in prison with full confiscation of property. Additionally, the court deprived him of the right to hold certain positions and engage in any media-related activities for the next 12 years. During the trial, it was established that Veselovsky, while working as a presenter and 'political commentator' in the occupied Crimea, purposefully used his media influence to promote Russian narratives.

His content was aimed at fostering hostile attitudes towards Ukraine and presenting the armed aggression as a process of 'liberation from Nazism'. The investigation gathered evidence that he repeatedly referred to Russia's full-scale invasion as 'liberation', openly supported the occupation of Ukrainian territories and called for further seizure of Ukrainian cities.

Born on January 31, 1967, in Simferopol, Sergei Veselovsky's life was associated with various fields of activity before his betrayal. He is a civil engineer by training, and graduated from the Crimean Institute of Environmental and Cultural Construction. In the past, he worked in the Department for Combating Economic Crimes and was active in political life as a member of local councils, and in 2012 even ran for the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

However, with the beginning of the occupation of Crimea in 2014, he finally went over to the enemy. Already in the first days of the occupation, Veselovsky became a TV presenter of the propaganda programs "Crimean Front" and "South-Eastern Front." His media activity has only increased over the years: in 2021, he created his own YouTube channel called "SMERSH. Crimean Front', and also got the role of a presenter in the propaganda project Politotdel on the occupier-controlled TV channel Krym 24.

Катерина Глушко