April 16, 2026, 10:31 p.m.
(Odesa pre-trial detention center. PHOTO: khpg.org)
A local resident who collected data on the location of the Armed Forces and the National Guard to pass it on to the Russian FSB was convicted in Odesa. The man, who hoped to become the director of the housing and communal services department under the occupiers, secretly filmed military facilities on a video recorder and handed over memory cards to agents in cigarette packs.
This is evidenced by the verdict of the Peresypskyi District Court of Odesa.
The main motive of the convict was the promise of representatives of the Russian special services to appoint him director of the Department of Housing and Communal Services in the future occupation administration.
To collect classified information, the offender developed a covert surveillance system using his own Chevrolet Nubira car. Realizing that direct filming of military facilities is prohibited and punishable by law, he resorted to a trick.
The man equipped the car with a dashcam with two cameras, but specially configured the system so that the recording was done exclusively through the rear window. This secrecy allowed him to freely record the location and equipment of the National Guard and police checkpoints on strategic sections of the Odesa bypass road.
After photographing and recording the deployment of the defense forces, the man seized the memory card with the evidence and hid it safely, waiting for an opportunity to establish contact with Russian special services. Realizing that his actions undermined Ukraine's defense capabilities and could lead to grave consequences, he began to actively seek channels of information transmission. To realize his plan, the man engaged an intermediary, to whom he set a clear task: to get in direct contact with representatives of Russian intelligence and transfer the collected military data.
In early November 2022, the offender informed his accomplice of his readiness to transfer the collected data on military facilities and checkpoints in the area of Zhevakhova Hora in Odesa. A few days later, a meeting was held on Mykhailivskyi Square to discuss the details of cooperation with the Russian special services. The intermediary confirmed the contact with the FSB representative and set a condition: regular work for the enemy in exchange for loyalty.
The man did not hesitate to cooperate, but he set his own price for betraying the state. Instead of money, he demanded guarantees of employment in the occupied city hall. He valued his help to the enemy at the position of director of the Department of Housing and Communal Services, which he hoped to take after the capture of Odesa region by Russian troops.
He handed the intermediary a pack of cigarettes with a hidden memory card. The media contained photos and videos of strategic sites: the deployment of National Guard and police checkpoints on the Odesa bypass road (near the car market) and at the entrance to the Kuyalnyk sanatorium.
Later, on November 23, 2022, the man completed another reconnaissance mission for the Russian special services. He handed over a pack of cigarettes to an intermediary, where he hid a memory card with updated videos of fortifications and personnel at the same locations near the AMIS gas station and the Kuyalnyk Estuaryin the same way.
In court, the accused did not admit his guilt and pleaded not guilty, calling himself a patriot. He claimed that he only passed the videos to his friend to help him "move" the checkpoints, although he was aware of the ban on filming.
He claimed that the memory cards he handed over were empty, and he could not explain the presence of classified data on them. He also tried to shift responsibility and questioned the identity of the witness, but the court refuted these versions. The defendant described his own statements about his willingness to work for the enemy as words that did not mean real actions.
The court found him guilty of high treason and sentenced him to 15 years in prison with full confiscation of property. The convict will remain in custody in the Odesa pre-trial detention center until the verdict comes into force.
According to the decision, equipment, funds in foreign and national currencies, as well as a land plot and a house were confiscated into state ownership. In addition, the convict is obliged to reimburse more than UAH 26 thousand for the costs of conducting examinations.
A court in Odesa region also found a local resident guilty of committing a terrorist act and sentenced him to 12 years in prison with confiscation of all his property.
Анна Бальчінос