Odesa resident sentenced to 15 years for high treason

The Trostianets District Court of Vinnytsia Region found the Odesa native guilty of high treason and sentenced him to 15 years in prison with confiscation of property.

As stated in the court's verdict, the man was recruited by the Russian Federation's intelligence service around mid-July 2024.

After that, he transferred information to a representative of the Russian Federation four times - screenshots from Google Maps with data on the location of units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In August 2024, he was mobilized and sent as a cadet to the school of individual training of a military unit.

The accused, interrogated in court, partially admitted his guilt and said that an acquaintance living in Odesa told him that the Security Service of Ukraine checks places for hits after air raids and offered him his contacts to receive such tasks. He has known this acquaintance since 2022, as he was his neighbor in the house where the accused rented an apartment. He also said that the acquaintance did not work anywhere, had no relation to law enforcement, and only said that he had a friend in the SBU. Later, in the summer of 2024, the defendant established contact with the person from whom he received the task. The latter provided him with the coordinates of the places where he had to provide information about the results of the hits. Subsequently, the accused passed on to this person the coordinates of the locations of the Odesa Military Academy and the Specialized Defense Prosecutor's Office of the Southern Region.

He did not pass on the coordinates of military units. He performed these tasks during the summer of 2024 for ideological reasons, as he believed that he was performing the tasks of the SBU. For the latter task, namely providing the coordinates of the location of the Specialized Prosecutor's Office, he received a reward in late August by transferring UAH 2,000 to his bank card.

On October 16, 2024, he was called up for military service under mobilization and stopped transmitting information. In September 2024, he was on military service in the Vinnytsia region in a military unit. At that time, he bought a new SIM card and phone. When he was at the training center, in September 2024, his friend contacted him again. The defendant does not know how he got his new phone number. The acquaintance inquired about his whereabouts and the defendant told him that he was doing his military service. Later that day, he was contacted by a person from whom the defendant had previously received tasks. He communicated with this person, as before, through correspondence in the messenger.

At the same time, he found out that he was communicating with an employee of the Russian Federation's special services. The latter warned him that if the defendant did not fulfill the tasks in the future, the defendant's data and correspondence with the Russian officer would be transferred to law enforcement agencies of Ukraine, and provided a new task, which the defendant fulfilled, namely: he provided the coordinates of the training center of the military unit located in Vinnytsia region. He stopped providing information to the Russian special services officer after the law enforcement officers arrived at his military unit. However, during the court debate, the accused pleaded guilty in full, sincerely repented, and noted that he regretted his actions.

Кирило Бойко