In Odesa, Zaporizhzhia resident sentenced to three years' suspended sentence for photographing checkpoints

The Prymorskyi District Court of Odesa sentenced a resident of Tokmak, Zaporizhzhia region, to five years in prison with a three-year probationary period for obstructing the lawful activities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations.

As stated in the court' s verdict, the obstruction consisted in the fact that the man informed conscripts about the posts of territorial centers of recruitment and social support by publishing at least 11 messages.

The accused pleaded guilty in full and explained that between February 2023 and April 2024, at different times, he recorded the location of checkpoints in different places on his way to work and subsequently sent this information to the telegram messenger to the group "Povestki Odesa Chaye" ("Summonses Odesa Chat"), and when he was detained, he did not delete the application. At the time, he did not realize that this was a criminal offense, otherwise he would not have committed these actions.

He asked the court not to punish him harshly, to take into account his sincere remorse for the criminal offense, the fact that he had transferred money to the Armed Forces, and to impose a non-custodial sentence.

The defendant's defense counsel asked the court not to severely punish his client and to take into account his sincere repentance, and to impose the punishment provided for by the sanction of the article, releasing him from serving a sentence with probation and returning the seized mobile phone.

The prosecutor actually agreed, asking to sentence the defendant to 5 years in prison, releasing him from serving his sentence with probation, setting a probationary period of 3 years, with the use of a special confiscation of the mobile phone as an instrument of crime.

Кирило Бойко