A Ukrainian man was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a Sumy court for his role in helping Russian forces reach Kyiv and working with Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB), Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) announced on Nov. 10.
In the early days of the full-scale invasion, the man helped Russian armored vehicles plot a route from Sumy Oblast, by the northern border with Russia, towards Kyiv. Video evidence showed that he actually led the column of vehicles with his personal car.
The vehicles were eventually destroyed by Ukrainian forces, but the man then returned to Sumy, where he continued to work with the FSB.
Beyond his primary task, the man, a resident of Sumy Oblast, reported to his FSB handlers on the locations of Ukrainian troops and weapons in the region.
He was arrested in August 2022 after an investigation, during which a phone was found that he used to communicate with FSB agents.
The man was found guilty of treason and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
His sentence was comparably light in contrast to other Ukrainians who have been convicted of treason for working with Russian forces since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.
A Ukrainian woman was sentenced to life in prison for treason on Oct. 13 for providing the Russian military with photographs of strategic sites in Ukraine.
Investigators determined that an undisclosed number of Russian strikes could be directly connected to photos that she had sent to her handler.
In mid-August, the SBU arrested a woman in Odesa for spying in a similar set of circumstances. She was suspected of informing the Russian military of arms deliveries, the deployment of Ukrainian troops, and the location of military facilities in the region. The woman was charged with treason and could also face life in prison.
Anastasiia Malenko
(Updated: )
