Oleksiy Popov, a former lieutenant colonel from Crimea, was convicted of treason and desertion. Following the occupation of the peninsula, he did not report to Mykolaiv with his Ukrainian Armed Forces unit and later began serving in the Russian army.
According to the investigation, Popov served in the Ukrainian Navy and, starting in 2009, commanded an anti-aircraft missile and artillery battalion of a separate coastal defense brigade. After the occupation of Crimea, the Ukrainian command decided to redeploy the units to mainland Ukraine.
In accordance with a directive from the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff dated May 6, 2014, military personnel were to arrive in Mykolaiv between May 6 and May 12. Popov never arrived at his assigned duty station and remained in Crimea.
Law enforcement officials determined that he subsequently signed a contract with the Russian Armed Forces and served in a Russian military unit as the head of air defense—a section chief.
The case was heard in absentia, as Popov is in the temporarily occupied territory and is evading Ukrainian justice.
Also in July, a Crimean resident who was captured during combat operations found himself in the dock—the man had fought against the Ukrainian Armed Forces as part of the Russian army. For high treason, the judge sentenced the man to the maximum penalty provided for under the article—15 years in prison with confiscation of property.
