A Russian court on July 2 sentenced a 19-year-old to 12 years in prison for "treason" after he was accused of donating money to the Ukrainian army.
"The Rostov regional court found the man guilty and sentenced him to a punishment in the form of 12 years in a strict penal colony," Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) said in comments reported by Kremlin state media.
It said the teenager had sent money to help Ukraine's army buy food and drones.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's crackdown on dissent since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine has seen thousands of his citizens arrested and many jailed.
In 2023, at least 21,000 people were targeted by Russia's "repressive laws" used to "crack down on anti-war activists," according to Amnesty International.
Last month, a Russian court sentenced five citizens from the U.K., Sweden, and Croatia in absentia to prison terms ranging from 3.5 to 23 years on June 26 for fighting alongside Ukraine amid Russia's full-scale war, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office claimed.
The court accused British citizen John Harding, Swedish citizen Mathias Gustafsson, and Croatian citizen Vjekoslav Prebeg of training for the so-called "violent seizure of power," attempting to change Russia's constitutional order, and participating in the war as "mercenaries."
Each of these three was sentenced in absentia to 23 years' imprisonment, with five years to be served in prison and the remainder in a strict regime colony, as stated in the official announcement.
Two other British citizens, Andrew Hill and Dylan Healy, were convicted of participating in the war as a "mercenary" and "complicity in the recruitment of mercenaries," respectively. Hill received a four-year sentence, while Healy was sentenced to three years and six months, both to be served in a general regime colony.
Martin Fornusek
