Military and his accomplices convicted of high treason in Odesa region

Dobroslavsky District Court of Odesa Region found two former military personnel and a woman guilty of high treason.

This was reported by the Court Reporter publication with reference to the court's verdict.

At the time of the crime, the accused was the chief sergeant of a military unit. In April 2024, he allegedly began to look for contacts of representatives of the Russian special services himself, and when he found them, he began to fulfill their tasks for a monetary reward. It was a matter of checking the location of military facilities with the provision of coordinates and photographs.

The verdict describes a number of episodes of criminal activity from April to early June 2024. The offender, among other things, passed on information about military equipment and air defense facilities in the Prymorskyi and Kyivskyi districts of Odesa, as well as the location and photos of the Odesa TV tower. He was paid $50 for the task.

In addition, the defendant's acquaintances, with whom he maintained friendly relations, joined the work for the Russian Federation - another serviceman, a radio operator, and a woman. According to the prosecution, all three entered into a criminal conspiracy to obtain illegal profits from the Russian special services.

The three of them were filming trains on the railroad tracks, permanent deployment points of military units and the mooring of defense ships on the territory of the Odesa Commercial Sea Port. For this, the curators paid $300, which the defendants allegedly divided among themselves.

On June 17, 2024, the offenders were detained. During the court hearing, the serviceman who was assigned the role of organizer tried to take the blame. He said that in 2022 he joined the Armed Forces as a volunteer, but left the service at the end of 2023. He was addicted to drugs and found a Telegram channel where he could make money. The first object he filmed was the SBU building, then the Border Guard Service, the military prosecutor's office, the TV tower, the weather center, Teschyn Bridge, and Chabanka. When it came to recording the entrance to the SBU, he asked the girl to hold the phone as if she were talking, and that's how the recording was made.

As the defendant explained, he was promised to be paid more if he brought in more people. Therefore, allegedly, to deceive the curator, he took phones from his friends, saying that it was for the casino, because his own account was blocked. The statements about cooperation with the FSB were written by his friends under the influence of drugs, when they did not understand their content, believing it to be a formality to receive funds from the casino.

But the court criticized this version of events. As a result, all three were found guilty. The defendant, who was credited with the role of the group's organizer, had previously been sentenced to five years in prison for unauthorizedly leaving military service. The court sentenced him to life in prison for treason during the war. His two accomplices will serve 15 years each for the same crime.

Кирило Бойко