Man who aided Russian strikes on central Kharkiv sentenced to life in prison
A local man who aided Russian strikes on Kharkiv, including the attack on the Regional State Administration building, has been sentenced to life in prison, the Prosecutor General's Office said on Nov. 13.
Prosecutors proved that the man collected information about the location of the Ukrainian military and civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv, passing on the intelligence to two women who work for the Russian special services.
One of the women lives in Moscow, but lived in Russian-occupied Donetsk in 2014. The man sent the coordinates of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration to her on Feb. 28, 2022.
The local government building was hit in an attack at around 8 a.m. local time on March 1, 2022, killing 29 people and destroying much of the building.
Russian forces used two Kalibr missiles in the attack. The first one struck the square in front of the building and the second one hit the building itself.
The man later sent the coordinates of a number of other locations in the city, which were then targeted by Russian forces.
He also spread Russian propaganda on social media and denied the existence of Russia's armed aggression against Ukraine.
During a search of his apartment, law enforcement also found an illegally-purchased gun, as well as the computer he used for communication with his contacts in Russia.
Elsa Court
